After The End
by Owl Awesomeness
Summary: *ON HOLD* For Isabelle Herondale, life as been pretty easy so far. All she has to do is train, train, train. But when her parents' worlds suddenly clash, she has no option but to try and help. Can she save the two worlds from each other? Disclaimer: I own no part of the PJO/HOO or TMI/TID series'. All rights go to the original authors of these books. Rated T for violence.
1. I Battle My First Cyclopes

**Chapter One: I Battle My First Cyclops**

 **Izzy's POV:**

The simulation starts. I'm already hot and sweaty from the last one, but I usually force myself to do as many as possible before I collapse, unless someone stops me first. I mean, we never know what is waiting out there. One day, I'll be able to go on an actual quest, but for now, I'm stuck doing simulations. Ugh…

Oh! I haven't introduced myself! My name is Isabelle Silena Herondale. But everyone just calls me Izzy, just like my great aunt. My mother is Zoe Jackson, and my father is Max Herondale. I know what you're thinking, "Who the heck are these people?" Have a little patience, I'm getting there. My mother is the daughter of Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase. The two most powerful demigods in the whole world. There's books all about them, so if you don't know who they are, go read them! My father was the son of Jace Herondale and Clary Fray/Fairchild(her real last name was Fairchild, but she prefers Fray). Once again, there are books all about them, go read them if you don't know who they are!

Technically, I'm not supposed to be alive. Shadowhunters(yes, that's supposed to be one word, it's what they're called) and demigods don't usually mix, but oh well. My mom was half god, getting 1/4 of her godliness from both of her parents, and my father was half angel, being a shadowhunter and all. So basically, I'm 1/4 god, 1/4 angel, and 1/2 human. This combination makes for a lot of monster attacks. So, I train.

The next sim turned out to be one of the battles from the last Giant war. This one's one of the hardest to cope with for me, seeing as my grandparents(demigod side) were in this war. I ready my sword, and prepare to fight. A name flashes on the screen in the back, Luke Castellan. He's one of the easier levels on this thing. Now, if I had gotten Kronos, Ares, or Athena, that would be a challenge. Though, it's probably a good thing I got him, it's better than passing out trying to duel a god. As the sim loads, I start thinking about how I'm going to beat him this time. Being a great granddaughter of Athena, I inherited the ability to strategize everything. As my grandmother would say, "Athena always has a plan."

I smile when I picture Grandma Annabeth saying that to my grandfather. I'm snapped out of my reverie with the whirring of the simulator, and I raise my blade. Riptide, the sword I inherited from Percy, gleams golden in the light of the simulation finally starting up.

I get ready, expecting Luke to materialize any second. But he never shows. Instead, I get a full on blast of hot, dry air. My brows furrow and I look around.

"What's happening!" I scream. "Binica Solace-di Angelo, I swear to the gods, if this is one of-"

"Wrong," a voice states calmly. "I'll give you two more tries."

' _Hey, he sounds like-Dad?'_ I think timidly. ' _But that's impossible, you're dea- Oh come on! This camp can't go_ one day _without something going wrong can it!_

"Cyclopes," I spit.

"Ding ding ding!" he confirms. "We have a winner!" I roll my eyes at his attempt at humor.

"Would you just hurry up and show yourself so I can send your pathetic essence back to Tartarus?" I ask sarcastically. A deep chuckle booms through the room.

"That's how you want to play, is it?" the cyclopes asks. "Well then, let's play little demiangel." (In case you were wondering, that's the name for my kind.) The cyclopes gradually thuds his way out of the shadows, and makes his way into the light.

"Ugh, you're even uglier than I thought you would be." And it's true. His hair is matted and tangled in a wadded up mess, as if he couldn't care less about personal hygiene, which was probably true, now that I think about it. He looked to be only about 7 feet tall, small for one of his kind, probably a teenager. His armor stank of sweat, rust and, mold. He definitely doesn't clean that either. As his face finally comes into view, he's smirking, probably thinking he can battle a "puny" demiangel and win. That's where he was wrong. I use my size to my advantage.

I quickly jumped into a natural fighting stance, and got ready for him to attack. "Well little girl, are you going to attack me or not?" he bellowed.

"My name's not little girl!" I cried, charging straight at him. I definitely caught him off guard, which was what I was going for. He stumbled back, not actually expecting me to attack first. I smirk. ' _Your mistake!_ ' I thought to myself. I slashed at his legs with Riptide, slicing the skin directly behind his knees. I lunged out of the way before he could hit me again.

The air above me whistled, and out of instinct I lunged to the side. And just in time too. The cyclops' hand thudded into the ground where I was, cracking the wooden floor. I righted myself quickly, keeping my eyes on the monster. I lunged again and my sword managed to slice a deep gash in his upper arm.

"Again with the theatrics," the cyclops taunted. "If you were a _real_ hero, you would have gotten in a few more life threatening blows." I didn't reply. Instead, I stabbed him in the back. My sword came out with a sickening sound, covered his blood.

"How's that for a life threatening blow?" I asked with a smirk. The shocked look on his face gave me all the answer I needed. I watched him crumble to dust in satisfaction. With an invisible wind, his remains blew back to the depths of Tartarus, and I turned to head out the door.

"Miss Gray!" I yelled, running into the hallway. This new problem needed to be fixed, and fast, before anything else started showing up.


	2. My Talk With Ms Grey

**Chapter Two: My Talk With Miss Grey**

 **Izzy's POV:**

I sprinted through the halls, narrowly avoiding everyone that was walking through them. The older campers gave me stern looks, but ignored them and kept running. I only slowed down to catch my breath as I reached Ms. Gray's office. _Knock, knock._

"Come on in Izzy," said Ms. Gray softly.

"How did you know it was me?" I ask, walking in the room. Today, the office had a blue theme. The walls, the couches, and even her desk were the same, vibrant blue. I suspected it was because the color reminded her of her late husband's-William Herondale- eyes. Now, don't get confused. Miss Tessa wasn't married to my grandfather. She's a warlock(they're immortal), so she was married to my great-times-like-50 grandfather. Until, of course, he died, just like all mortals do.

"No one else would come barreling through the halls like that to come see me," she stated with a loving smile.

"Oh," I say, blushing. "Well, unfortunately, I have bad news. There was a cyclopes in the training room today. It wasn't very big, but still..." Miss Tessa didn't look very surprised.

"So _that's_ what the Fates were fussing about."

"What?" I ask, confused.

"A while ago, oh about 50 years or so, the Fates, you know the Greek people that predict the future? Well, they predicted that one day the Shadowhunter and demigod worlds would clash, bringing both kinds of monsters to both places."

"Then what? How would the demigods defeat the demons? They don't have access to seraph blades! And how would the Shadowhunters defeat the millions of monsters from the demigod world?"

"Well, I wasn't done yet. The Fates predicted that the two worlds would have to work together to defeat the person responsible for bringing the worlds together."

"But how?" I ask. "The two worlds have NEVER gotten along!"

"What about you?" Miss Tessa asks. "How are you here, if the two worlds _never_ get along?"

"Oh," I say sheepishly. "But that's different. For the demiangels it's only one person from each side, not everyone working together."

"But that is exactly what will have to happen to defeat this enemy. Both worlds will have to cooperate to conquer them."

"Well, that's going to be hard. They've never really liked each other. We'd better start figuring out how to get them to cooperate," I say grimly.

"Yes," Miss Tessa says. "How about you start Iris messaging your mother and grandparents. They will probably be willing to help get Camp Half-Blood to cooperate at least. I will send a fire message to Idris to try and explain the problem."

"Ok Ms. Gray. I'll go call my mom first." I walked out of her office, calmly this time, to go Iris message my mother. _Oh crap,_ I think. _I am_ so _going to be busted for not calling sooner. And for only calling about an emergency... Oops..._ I start walking slower, dreading the words I already knew would come out of my mother's mouth.


	3. I Talk With My Mother

**Chapter Three: I Call My Mother**

 **Izzy's POV:**

I finally arrive at the fountain we use for Iris messages. Any other day it would seem bright and colorful to me, but today it's bleak and colorless. Oh well, better get this over with. I find an empty space and set up one of the many prisms around the fountain so that it creates a rainbow. Finally getting it in the correct spot, I dig through my seemingly bottomless pockets to find the drachma I grabbed earlier. Oh! Most of you probably don't know what a drachma is! Ok, so a drachma is what the Ancient Greeks used for money. It's basically a golden coin a little bigger than a quarter, and has Greek symbols and writing on it. Anyway, I through the drachma in the rainbow and said, "Oh Fleecy, do me a solid. Show me Zoe Herondale, of Camp Half Blood."

Now, traditionally, you would say, "Oh Iris, Goddess of the rainbow. Show me blah, blah, blah." Obviously you wouldn't actually say blah, blah, blah, but you would put that person's name in there, and sometimes where they were. But the message I used was a more direct route, since Iris doesn't really handle as many messages anymore. Now mostly it's her assistant, Fleecy, hence the message. Thank you grandpa for drilling that into my head.

My mother's face slowly appeared in the Iris message. She was looking down at something, probably her sketchbook, as her long black hair fell continuously into her face. I cough, startling her. "Huh- Izzy!" she screams, "Why haven't you called! It's been 3 months!"

"I know mom," I say bashfully, "and I'm sorry. I just get so caught up in training that I keep forgetting."

"That's no excuse. You have a monster proof phone, yes?" I shake my head yes, knowing where this was going. She had only given me this speech about a thousand times. "Then use it," she says. "I know for a fact that you know how to set an alarm." She sighs, looking beat, and again I feel a wave of shame come over me for not calling sooner.

"So how have you been Izzy?" my mother asks, smiling again. I smile too, knowing that her mad period was over. She could never stay mad at me for long.

"Not horrible. But today was not the best," I reply, dreading having to break this too her.

My mom's face fell. "Oh no. Something happened, didn't it."

"Yeah," I say quieter, rubbing the back of my neck nervously. "A cyclopes showed up in the training room today. Not a big one, only a teenager. He thought he could take me down, but NO-"

"Wait," my mother interjects, "you were attacked?! Are you ok, did anything happen?"

"No mom, I'm fine," I say, slightly smirking at the memory of taking down that monster's ego. "Not a scratch on me. The cyclops is a different story," I say smugly. My mother visibly relaxes, and lets out a sigh.

"Why is it always our families?" she asks, probably more to herself than me. "Why can't someone else be bombarded with these things?"

"I don't know mom. It's just how things are," I reply, sighing.

"Oh well, nothing can be done about it right now. So you defeated the cyclopes, then what happened?"

"Well, after he turned to dust and went back to Tartarus-" my mother shivered, recalling the stories my grandparents told to warn their child, and grandchild, away from the Underworld. The scariest part: All of them were true. "Sorry mom," I say, grimacing at the memories now too.

"It's ok Izzy, continue with your story," my mom replies.

"Ok, well anyway, after he disintegrated, I ran out to find Miss Tessa. She was in her office, and told her the story. She wasn't surprised though, apparently this had been prophesied a long time ago, about 50 years she said. Tessa said that the Shadowhunter and Demigod worlds would have to work together to defeat whoever was behind this. She told me that I had the best chance of convincing the demigod side, or at least Camp Half-Blood, to work with the Shadowhunters."

"And that's why you're calling me," my mother concluded. She knew me so well.

"Yep," I say, still kind of embarrassed that this is the only reason that I'm calling her.

"I knew there had to be a reason," my mother says dejectedly. "There always is."

"Sorry mom." I bow my head slightly at the disappointment in her voice. It was true though, I almost never called unless I needed something, or something happened.

"It's ok Izzy. I'll talk to Chiron, see if I can convince him to try and convince the gods. Hopefully it will work," says my mom.

"Thanks mom!" I slightly scream, excited.

"Don't thank me yet, I haven't done anything," she replies. I can hear the laughter in her voice at my reaction.

"Ok mom!" I say smiling. "I should probably get back to Tessa, see if she had any luck contacting Idris."

"Alright sweetie, stay safe, and see you soon!"

"Okie mom, bye!"

"Bye Izzy!" At that, my mother waves her hand through the Iris message, ending the call. Now to go find Tessa again.


	4. I Get Defended (Though I Didn't Need It)

**Chapter Four: I Get Defended(Even Though I Didn't Really Need It)**

 **Izzy's POV:**

After calling my mom, I ran back inside, hoping to find Tessa sooner rather than later. Running through the halls again was probably not my best choice. I should have known my luck would run out, it always does.

"Oof!" someone screams as I run into them. Of course, I had to be the one that fell on the ground, even though I'm not the one in heels. It was Mekena, one of the most annoying people of all time. _Great_...(note the sarcasm)

"Sorry Mek-" I start, trying to apologize before things get out of hand.

"Watch where you're going _freak_!" Mekena screams at me. I glare at her, starting to get up off of the floor.

"You're just as much of a freak as I am. We're both demiangels. Except..." I trail off.

"Except what?" Mekena asks shrilly.

" _I'm_ not the one with makeup caked on my face in attempt to make me look pretty," I smirk at the look on her face.

"Why you little..." Mekena brings her hand up to slap me, but I'm still not worried. It's not that hard to block her. I mean, this girl literally couldn't lift a sword to save her life, she's not that big of a threat. Before I can move to stop her, a different hand grabs her wrist, effectively halting her movement.

"What do you think you're doing?" the mystery person asks. _Oh great_ , I think, _it's Sammy._

"Hi Sam," I mutter.

"I repeat," Sammy says in a dangerous voice. "What were you about to do to my best friend?"

"Didn't you hear what she said to me!" Mekena screams. "She said-"

"I know what she said, but that doesn't give you any right to slap her," Sammy replies, obliviously angry. I roll my eyes. ' _I don't need protection_ ,' I think to myself. Well, at least Mekena had the decency to look scared. Sammy Lewis was one of the most protective people on the planet. You mess with his friends, he messes with you.

Sammy finally lets go of Mekena, and she runs off. Probably to go tattle on Sam to Miss Gray. Tessa won't care about him saying that though. She doesn't really care for Mekena's complaints. Sam turns to me, his expression turning to worry. "Are you ok?" he asks.

"I'm fine Repair Boy," he scowls at the name, bringing a smirk to my face. "I could have taken her myself."

"I know," he replies sheepishly. "But I had to protect my best friend. And you know I hate that name Belle," his smile growing wider at my eye roll. The nickname used to annoy the living Hades out of me, but I've come to accept it at this point.

"And that's why I use it Sammy," I reply snarkily. I'm not able to hide my smile though.

"I know," my best friend says smiling back. Don't get me wrong, he's still an annoying brat at times, but he is my best friend. You learn how to deal with the annoying. "So what do you want to do today?" Sammy asks.

"Oh, I don't know if today's the best day to hang out..." I reply, not wanting to say the words, but knowing that he had to know what was going on.

"What happened," he asked, already realizing something was wrong.

"A prophecy happened." I look away, not wanting to see the forced smile on his face. This happens every time someone gets to go on a quest. He gets upset that it's not him.

"Good for them," he says, forcing the words out of his mouth.

"No, it's not good. A cyclopes attacked me in the training room today. I don't know how it got in bu-"

"You were attacked?!" he whisper yells, "Why didn't you tell me?" He automatically goes into protective friend mode, making sure I was ok. I push him off saying that I was fine. "Are you sure?" he asks, still worried.

"Yes Sammy, I'm sure. I think I would have noticed by now if I was hurt. Now back to my story. So anyway, after I defeated him, I went to Tessa. She said that there was a prophecy written a long time ago about the Shadowhunter and demigod worlds clashing, and that we would have to work together to defeat whoever was behind it."

"Wh-what?" Sammy sputters. "How is that going to work? The two worlds have almost never gotten along!"

"That's what I said! But Tessa reminded me that _we_ were the result of two people from two different worlds getting along. We have to be the ones to bring to two worlds to a compromise." Sam sighs tiredly.

"Let me guess," he says, his voice strained, "she had you call your mother."

"Yep," I say, popping the "p". "She wasn't to happy about trying to convince the gods to work with Shadowhunters either." Sam sighs again.

"Well, someone will probably have to go on a quest again. Let's just hope they succeed." I feel really bad for him. All his life he's wanted to go on a quest. But all his life, someone else has gotten the job.

"Hey," I start, hoping to cheer him up. "We should go down to the campfire. I haven't eaten since breakfast." He visibly brightens. He loves the camp fire.

"Yeah!" he screams, happy again. "Then we can go swim-" he gets cut off by Tessa running up to meet us.

"Come on Izzy," she says, her voice breathy from her sprint. "You have an oracle to see." She grabs my arm, starting to pull it towards the Oracle's cave.

"Wait, what?! Me?!" I scream, "I'm sure there are plenty of other people more capable of taking this on. Go ask Jonathan! Or Blake! They're much better at facing these kind of things than I am!"

"Can't do that Izzy," Tessa says dragging me away from Sam. "You were the one attacked by a cyclopes. You get to go see the Oracle." I give up, looking back at Sammy. He smiles sadly at me.

"Have fun Belle!" he screams at my disappearing figure.

"I'll be back Repair Boy!" I scream back. I see his lips moving, but I can't hear what he's saying anymore. Oh well, I'll ask him later. For now, all I'm worried about is facing the Oracle. At least it's not some dried up old mummy like it was when my grandfather first went on a quest. Now, we have the one and only Rachel Elizabeth Dare. I hope I don't screw up too much.


	5. The Prophecy

**Chapter Five: Rachel Elizabeth Dare**

 **Izzy's POV:**

After Tessa FINALLY finished dragging me to her office, she let go of my arm. "So, I heard Sammy defending you against Mekena," I look at her, wondering where she was going with this. Her attention was focused on the paper in front of her as she scrawled a message on it and sent it into flames.

"Yeah..." I reply slowly. "Why? It's not like he needed to. I could have done it myself."

"Of course," Tessa replies. I could hear the laughter in her voice though. _Well it's true_ , I think to myself. _I can take care of myself._ "It sound's like he's an amazing friend."

"Yeah," I say again. "He's great."

"Sooooo..." Tessa starts. "It sounds like he really likes you." I feel the blood heat up the back of my neck at the thought. _Wait, why am I blushing? I don't like him_ that _way._

"Not in that way," I argue. "We're just really good friends."

"Suuuuurrrreeee," Tessa replies skeptically. Suddenly, her office wall lit up in blue, swirling light, the telltale signs of a portal. Unsurprisingly, my grandmother, Clary, stepped through. Her vibrant red hair was tied back in a braid, and she opened her arms for a hug once she saw me.

"Grandma!" I said, running towards her.

"Hey love bug," Grandma Clary greeted me. "I hear you need a portal to Long Island?" I smiled warmly at her and nodded. "Well, I can't get you inside the borders, but I can get you to the outer edge. That good enough?" I nod again.

"Anyway, good luck Izzy." Tessa turns to head back out the door, leaving to do whatever she was doing before she came to get me.

Grandma Clary and I stepped through the portal together. A few moments later, I'm greeted with the smell of an ocean breeze and fresh strawberries. I turn to Grandma Clary and hug her once more.

"Send me a fire message when you're done, okay? I'll come back and get you."

"Okay Grandma," I respond. She smiled one last time before disappearing into the portal. I watched it spiral into nothingness before turning to head up the hill. The Golden Fleece still hung proudly from Thalia's tree, and I smiled when I saw Peleus curled protectively around it. I scratched him lightly on the head when I passed, and a rumbling shook through his body. My body relaxes instinctively once I pass through the border, and I smile at the campers who pass by me.

"Izzy?" a voice asks from off to my right. "Why are you here dear?" I turn towards the voice, smiling widely when I see the speaker.

"Chiron!" I exclaim, running to hug him. He chuckles slightly as he wraps his arms around me, having to bend his knees slightly so I'm not just hugging the horse part of him.

"It's nice to see you too dear, but your grandparents and your mother in New Rome at the moment. I could call them if you-"

"No, it's fine," I interrupt. "I'm actually here to see the Oracle this time." A look of realization dawned on the centaur's face.

"I see. Well, you mustn't keep our dear Rachel waiting then. Off you go!" he jokes, making shooing motions with his hands. I laugh and start walking into the forest.

The cave is right where I remember it, though I hadn't really expected it to move. The purple and gold curtains hanging over the entrance have faded over the years, but they still held their original velvety texture. I push them aside slowly, not wanting to disturb the 60 year old woman if she was sleeping.

"Don't worry about waking me," a voice says. "I'm already up." This must be Rachel. I've heard stories about her leading my grandparents (Demigod side) through the Labyrinth. Not all of them were pretty. Like this one time, she lead them into an arena and...Wait getting off track, sorry. Anyway, I entered her cave, expecting a cold, dank place. In reality, it was much different. Rachel had covered the walls with artwork, most likely her own, and there was an actual carpet on the ground. Seeing my surprised look, Rachel smiled. "Expecting something different dear?" she asked.

I nod sheepishly. "Yeah, I mean it is a cave..." I trail off.

"Well, would _you_ want to live in a cold, dark place the rest of your life?" I shake my head no, slightly blushing at my earlier thoughts about it being dark and dank. "Exactly," she says. "I decorated it with a few paintings and a carpet, and tada! A much better place to live." She smiles at me, looking like she was reliving memories.

"So, is it time for my prophecy?" I ask timidly. "Or do I have to say something special to "activate" the Spirit of Delphi?"

"You have to say something special. But don't you want to talk for a little bit?" Rachel asks.

"Uhh.." I hesitate. "No, not really, I need to get back to Sam."

"Oh, I see," Rachel smiles knowingly. "I'll tell you the words then, so you can get back to your boyfriend."

"He's _not_ my boyfriend!" I interject. Rachel mutters something about Sammy not being my boyfriend, _yet._ "What was that?" I ask. I have an idea what she said, but I wanted to make sure.

"Oh nothing dear," she smiles innocently. "Now, all you have to say is, 'I'm here to speak to the Oracle.' " I say the words quickly, before she has time to say anything else. I'm not really in the mood for gossip about who I should and shouldn't date. It's kind of embarrassing. Slowly, Rachel slumps into the chair she's sitting in. The room starts to glow green, and so do her eyes, as emerald green smoke comes out of her mouth. Then she starts to speak. But it's not her voice anymore, now it sounds like some ancient spirit. Which makes sense, since it's the Spirit of Delphi.

"Approach, seeker, and ask." The Spirit of Delphi says. I step a little closer to Rachel, still far enough that I can run if I need to, but close enough that I can hear the entire prophecy.

"How do I get the Shadowhunter and demigod worlds to cooperate?" At this, she opens her eyes wider, letting more creepy green light into the room.

"Child of both, beware the Earth,

For below is a goddess full of revenge and mirth.

Stray from your path, and havoc shall begin

A struggle bigger than the one within

Gather the item both sides require,

and see the monsters go up in fire."

At that, Rachel slumped in her chair, exhausted from the effort. The light slowly fades from the room as the Spirit of Delphi recedes into Rachel, waiting to be needed again. _We really should get a new oracle before Rachel can't handle it anymore._ I make sure Rachel was ok before sprinting out of the cave. I remembered to grab a spare sheet of paper and a pen off her desk on my way out for the fire message though.

I waved a hasty goodbye to Chiron before I left, and sprinted down the hill. Once I was back in the same area that Grandma Clary had dropped me off, I dropped to my knees and scribbled a quick message to my grandmother to tell her I was done. After I was finished, I pulled my steele from my back pocket and carefully drew the rune for a fire message onto the back of the paper.

Flames spread across the paper quickly, and I tossed it in the air before it could burn me. A few minutes later, a portal appeared and my grandmother stepped through it.

"How was it?" she asked.

"A little weird," I responded after a moment. "But I got my prophecy, so it's cool." Grandma Clary nods in understanding.

"Alright, let's get you back to Camp Harmony love bug." With our hands locked in a tight embrace, the two of us jump back through the portal.


	6. Izzy Tells Us The Prophecy

**Chapter Six: Izzy Tells Us The Prophecy**

 **Sammy's POV:**

About thirty minutes after Izzy came back from the Oracle, Miss Gray called the campers for an emergency meeting. We all gathered around the campfire, waiting for Miss Tessa's announcement. I'm pretty sure I was the only one who knew what the meeting was about: Izzy's prophecy. I tune back into Miss Tessa's announcement when she starts talking.

"Now, as you all probably know by now, a cyclops was in the training room today. It was taken care of quickly, so there is no cause for worries. Isabelle went to Rachel today, and is ready to tell us her prophecy. Isabelle?" Izzy takes a deep breath and steps forward. She looks nervous, but her gaze is hard, looking ready to fight the world.

"My prophecy went like this," she starts.

"Child of both, beware the Earth,

For below is a goddess full of revenge and mirth.

Stray from your path, and havoc shall begin

A struggle bigger than the one within

Gather the item both sides require,

and see the monsters go up in fire."

Everyone takes a second to process this. Then suddenly, everyone starts yelling out theories as to what the prophecy means.

"Well, obviously she should take me! I mean, I _am_ the best at everything," someone yells. It sounds suspiciously like Anthony, one of THE most narcissistic people on the planet. I glance over at Izzy, and just as I expected she looks overwhelmed. I get up from my log bench and walk over to her.

"Hey Belle," I say smiling warmly.

"Hi Repair Boy," she replies back, her voice betraying her exhaustion. "I hate meetings like this. Everyone is always yelling. It's so overwhelming!" she screams over the noise.

"I know Izzy," I reply. "That's why I came over here. To distract you from it all." I smile at her, and my heart flutters when she smiles back. _What the Hades was that?!_ I ask myself. _Stop it heart, you have no right to develop feelings for Izzy. She's_ just _a friend!_ Lost in my thoughts, I don't notice when Izzy starts talking again. "I'm sorry, what?" I ask. She rolls her eyes and laughs.

"I _said_ , what did you say to me earlier when I was being viciously dragged away by Tessa?"

"Oh," I reply, rubbing my neck sheepishly. "I just said that I knew you were going to come back. You always do." I feel my neck heat up in embarrassment, but Izzy takes the comment in stride.

"Aww, thanks Sammy," she says, smiling.

"You're welcome," I reply, smiling back. "Besides, it's true. You always come back to me, no matter what happens. Just like I'll always be back for you." Pink tinges Izzy's cheeks, but before she has a chance to respond, Miss Tessa calls attention to herself again by whistling. Loudly. I cringe and stand up again. "I'll talk to you later Izzy, I better go sit down before Ms. Grey gets mad at me."

"Okay Sam, see you later." I walk back to my log, sitting down just before Miss Tessa starts speaking.

"As you all know, now that Isabelle has her prophecy, she needs to pick her companions. She is allowed to pick two, and will have a little time to decide. Isabelle?"

Izzy doesn't hesitate. "I already know who I want to pick. Sammy Lewis, will you accept this quest?" No one is really surprised, though a wave of relief goes through me. I was fairly sure she would want me on her quest, but there was a seed of doubt planted in the back of my mind that she wouldn't. I stand, ready to accept.

"I accept this quest," I say, loud and proud. Izzy relaxes, looking like she was afraid I wouldn't accept. _Why wouldn't I accept?_ I think to myself. _She's my best friend, of course I'd go with her_. I sat back down, an ear splitting grin on my face, and waited for Izzy to announce her second companion.

"Maria Zhang, will you accept this quest?" This choice didn't surprise me, however, it seems to surprise the other campers. There's a collective gasp as the others start arguing why they should go. I tune out of the conversation again, retreating to my thoughts. I'm glad she chose Maria. The three of us have been good friends for years, though Izzy and I are closer to each other than to her.

Miss Tessa gets ahold of the crowd by whistling, _again_. "Now, now campers. Isabelle has made her choice, and no one can change her opinion. Now, everyone go to bed. Ah, not you three. I need to talk to you." I turn back around from the path to go back to my cabin, and start walking towards Ms. Grey's office instead. Izzy, Maria, and I group together in a tight huddle as we follow Tessa.

"What do you think she wants?" I ask in a whisper. Maria gives me a look that says, " _Really?"_

"Hum, I wonder if it's about the _quest_ we just got picked for," Maria says sarcastically.

"Well no duh," I deadpanned. "I mean what _part_ of it she wants to talk about." The girls shrugged in unison, and I focused my attention back on the path.

* * *

 **Izzy's POV:**

We enter Tessa's office, and make our way to the middle of the room. Her office theme has changed since that morning. Now, everything has galaxies on it. I have to admit, it is really pretty.

"Go ahead and find a seat," Tessa starts, "I'm sure you're all tired. Just try not to fall asleep." We laugh at that, and she was right about us being tired. It was 9 p.m. already. Sammy, Maria, and I all find a spot. Sammy, of course, picks the biggest and comfiest chair. Humph... Oh well, I take the next best one, the recliner. Maria sits in the love seat, taking up the whole thing. A few seconds later, my stomach grumbles, betraying my hunger. I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, and I was starving. I look up at Ms. Grey sheepishly, but she smiles warmly and hands me a blueberry muffin.

"I figured you'd be hungry, you haven't eaten since breakfast," Ms. Tessa said in explanation. I smiled in thanks and began eating the muffin.

We were nervous about going on this quest, even if some people *cough* Sammy *cough* didn't want to admit it. But his eyes betrayed his true feelings.

"So, what do you need to talk to us about Miss Tessa?" Maria asks. We all know that it's about the quest, we just don't know what exactly she wants to talk to us about.

"Thank you for asking Maria," Tessa says. "I was getting there." She smiles warmly at us. "Your guy's quest is very unique. Usually, the quest is only for one side. But you guys have been given a task that serves both sides."

"No pressure or anything, huh Izzy?" Sammy mutters. I snicker, trying to do it quietly. Apparently I failed.

"What was that Izzy?" Tessa asked. She smiled at me though, so I know she isn't mad.

"Nothing Miss Tessa, please continue with your speech," I say, smiling broadly at her.

"Hmm. As I was saying, your success is vital. If you fail, both the Shadowhunter and demigod worlds will clash worse than ever before. So, no pressure," Tessa jokes, copying Sam. Of course she had heard him. "So, you guys will start your journey in the morning. We'll gather the supplies you need, then you'll be on your way!" she says cheerfully.

"Yaaaaay..." I mutter sarcastically. "Well, let's get back to our cabins and get some sleep then," I say, loud enough for everyone to hear this time.

"Yep, I will see you all in the morning. Meet me back here, and we'll make sure you have everything," Tessa replies. We walk out the door, and start heading our separate ways. My cabin and Sammy's are in the same direction, so we stick together for a little longer.

"Bye guys, see you in the morning!" Maria whisper screams happily as she takes a right towards her cabin.

"See you in the morning!" Sammy and I say in unison. We continue walking in the direction of our cabins in comfortable silence.

"So..." Sammy says. "Where do you think we should go first?"

"I honestly don't know," I reply. "We'll have to figure it out in the morning. Maria will probably have an idea though."

"Yeah... Well, see you tomorrow Belle," Sammy says, smiling.

"See you then Repair Boy," I retort. I smile back at him before I turn away. He turns to go into his cabin, and I turn around to go to mine. On the way there though, I found myself smiling for no reason.


	7. Our Quest Begins

**Izzy's POV:**

When I woke up, the sun was just barely rising, and the sky was lit up in pinks and purples. I sat up groaning, and pause to crack my back. I eventually get up to get dressed, then go to meet Sammy and Maria. As it turned out, the weather matched the skies perfectly. There was a slight breeze, no signs of rain, and clear skies, spare a few stray clouds. I spot Maria and Sammy already on the path, and headed over.

"Why hello there Sunshine," Sammy says teasingly as I walk up. His smile is warm and familiar, chasing away any lingering doubts I had about leading the quest.

"Hello to you too Repair Boy," I remark, smiling back. "Let's get everything gathered up, then we can leave."

"Yep," Maria says. "Let's go you two." She smiles, a playful mood dancing behind her eyes. I narrow my eyes at her suspiciously for a moment, but I sigh and decided to weasel it out of her later. We enter into the camp supply shack, and grab everything we can think of. I pile in the supplies I found into my backpack along with the stuff I grabbed from my cabin. _Let's see... ambrosia, nectar, Riptide, steles, seraph blades, Sensors, extra food, extra clothes, toothbrush, 250 dollars in cash_ (the camp has a _big_ allowance for quests) _, sleeping bag... Ok, I think I'm good!_

"Everyone good?" I ask. Sammy and Maria nod, shrugging their packs over their shoulders.

"So..." I trail off. "Does anyone have any idea where we should go?" The three of us continued walking towards Camp Harmony's exit as we talked.

"I've got an idea," Maria starts.

"Of course you do," Sammy mumbles. I snicker quietly.

"Well, the prophecy says we need to get the item both sides require. Wouldn't that be something that can defeat both demons _and_ monsters?"

"Yeah," I agree. "That makes sense. But what would defeat both monsters and demons?" Caught up in my own thoughts, I hardly notice when we reach the end of the path, the archway with the camp's name on it directly in front of us. We walked out, and still no one said a word.

Finally Sammy brightened. "What about the Necklace of Hope?"

"The what?" I ask. Sammy sighs, and shakes his head disbelievingly.

"The Necklace of Hope," he repeats. "The most powerful artifact that has ever been used by both demigods and Shadowhunters. It's powers include healing, and installing hope in the minds of whoever uses it. It was used by the demigods to keep them hopeful in the first Titan War, and by Shadowhunters when Tessa and the other warlocks had to fight against the Infernal Devices."

"That's perfect!" I yell. "The only thing is, how do we find it?" My comment is met with silence, as everyone thinks about it. _Well, if it's been used by both sides, it would be somewhere that both the Shadowhunters and demigods can get to. What about Los Angeles? There's an Institute there, and the entrance to the Underworld._ "What about Los Angeles?" I repeat out loud.

"That would make sense," Maria says. "There's demigod and Shadowhunter connections there."

"Good thinking Belle," Sammy compliments.

"Thanks Repair Boy," I say back, smiling.

"When you guys are done flirting over there," Maria says smiling. I can feel my cheeks heating up, and I look over at Sammy to see him blushing as well. _Wait, why's Sammy blushing? Why am_ I _blushing?_ "Let's figure out how we're going to get to LA. _And_ where the Necklace would be."

"Well, I might be able to portal us there," I suggest. "I've been getting better, and I can manage small jumps now." The other two congratulate me and I smile in thanks before continuing. "It would take a few days, and we'd have to know where we're stopping each night, but it's faster than trying to take a taxi. Plus it saves money." Maria nods in agreement, but Sammy's eyebrows furrow.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" he questions worriedly. "That's a lot of jumps for you. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Awww! So you _do_ care Repair Boy!" I tease. Sammy splutters in protest, but I continue talking before he can get a word out. "I'll be fine Sam. Sure I'll be tired after each jump, but I should recover fairly quickly if I get some food in me." Sammy still looks skeptical, but sighs and agrees.

We decide to head into a Starbucks to get some coffee, or rather, Sammy and Maria wanted coffee, I planned on getting something cold. The Starbucks we went into had a t.v. playing the news softly in the background. I let the chatter of the other customers relax me as we order our drinks, the waitress saying that they'll be out in a few minutes. The three of us find an empty booth and sit down, happy to finally get some rest.

"Let's try to figure out some more of the prophecy," I say once we were all settled.

"Yeah, ok," Maria agrees. "How does it go again Izzy?" she asks.

"Child of both, beware the Earth,

For below is a goddess full of revenge and mirth.

Stray from your path, and havoc shall begin

A struggle bigger than the one within

Gather the item both sides require,

and see the monsters go up in fire," I say.

"Ok," Sammy starts. "Well let's start with the first line. Child of both, obviously you Izzy. You got the prophecy, and you're a child of both a demigod and a Shadowhunter. But what about the beware the Earth part?"

"Well, it can't be Gaea," I say. "She won't be rising for a long time after our grandparents defeated her."

"Besides, it said _below_ the Earth. Not the Earth itself," Sammy adds.

"So, could it be the Underworld?" Maria wonders.

"Well, the only goddess I can think of that is in the Underworld is Persephone, and I don't think she's capable of being full of revenge and mirth," I say.

"So not the Underworld, but what about Tartarus?" Sammy asks. I shiver, memories of Grandpa Percy and Grandma Annabeth's stories resurfacing. "Oh, sorry Izzy," Sammy apologizes.

"It's ok Sammy," I say, forcing a smile. He frowns, sensing the lie. "Seriously Sammy, it's ok. It was an accident." He sighs, still looking skeptical, but smiles back at me.

"So, possibly the _place below_. The next line is easier. If we stray from our path somehow, havoc will begin. Meaning, we can't be distracted by anything, or the two worlds will get attacked more often," Maria says.

"But what's the 'A struggle bigger than the one within'?" Sammy asks. "Is there something going on inside that head of yours that you're not telling me Izzy?"

"No, not that I know of. I mean, I guess there could be something, but I don't know what it is."

Our drinks arrive, effectively changing the mood of the conversation. I got a strawberry smoothie, Sammy got a cappuccino, and Maria got an iced coffee. We all needed the sugar, it had almost the same effect that nectar did, but without the deadly consequences if we had too much. The conversation halted as we all downed our drinks. _Dang, Starbucks knows how to make an amazing smoothie._ I smile at the refreshing cold of my drink, staring out the window to watch the cars go by. But of course, the Fates just _had_ to ruin it.

AN: How was it? Comments are always appreciated, so please leave your thoughts down below :D Love you all!

Love,  
Owl


	8. We Meet My Jerk of a Relative

**Izzy's POV:**

As we sit in our booth, I start to hear a weird rumbling noise. "Do you guys hear that?" I ask my friends.

"That rumbling?" Maria asks.

"Yeah," I say. "It sounds like a motorcycle… but… deeper almost..." I look outside the window, and sure enough a motorcycle roars up to the parking lot of Starbucks. The bike is painted a blood red color, and the seat seemed to be made of some kind of skin. _Now where have I heard of a motorcycle like that... Oh yeah. Ares._ I sneer.

"Hey guys, guess who's come to meet us." I jerk my head to the window, and my friends look outside. Sammy groans, and Maria just looks resigned.

"Why does it have to be THAT god," Sammy groans.

I sigh, and shake my head. "I don't know Sammy."

"Well, you guys had better be nice, I don't think Ares will be very forgiving if you offend him. Well, he might be a little more lenient with me. I am his grand-daughter after all." Maria smiled jokingly as I playfully glared at her. Ares got off of his bike, and suddenly it seemed as though everyone who hadn't noticed him before(which was very few people, by the way) saw him now. They started throwing glares his way, but he just ignored them and walked into the cafe.

I watch him carefully, waiting for any sign of hostility. He strolls purposefully towards our booth, barely glancing at the other customers. The god arrives at our booth, and motions for Maria to move over. (She was had one side to herself, while Sammy and I shared one)

I look at him suspiciously, but Sam just outright glares.

"What do you want Ares?" Sammy sneered.

"Well, hello to you too punk," Ares snorts back. "Is it too much to ask if I want to see my darling granddaughter?" He shoots a toothy smile at Maria, but she just raises her eyebrow skeptically.

"Sammy is right," Maria says. "You always have a reason for coming to visit, and it's not usually because you miss your kids." I nod in agreement, and Ares looks offended.

"I notice you're not denying it," I add snarkily. Ares just sighs and rolls his eyes, looking annoyed.

"You're right," he grunted reluctantly. "I need you to find something for me." I roll my eyes. _Of course he does._

"And why would we do that?" Sammy growled, his eyes still narrowed at the god.

"Don't push your luck, punk," Ares warns, glaring right back. I could see the harsh fire in his eyes grow steadily brighter. "To answer your question, you will do this because you need information. And right now, I'm the only one willing to give it to you."

"Do we really have a choice?" I asked, dejected.

"No, not really," Ares mused. "Not unless you want the world to end because you guys don't know what you're doing." Maria sighs, the sound breaking the tension between Sammy and the god slightly, but not enough to make them each of them cease glaring at the other.

"What do you need, Lord Ares?" she asked joylessly.

"Well, all I need from you guys is for you to get my sword."

"Which one...?" I trail off.

"Imperius," he says casually. Maria's eyes almost pop out of her head. Sammy and I both look at her questioningly, but she doesn't say anything at first.

"You mean the one with a Celestial Bronze blade and an Imperial Gold hilt?!" she asks disbelievingly. My eyes widen in surprise. I hadn't even known that swords like that were made!

"Yeah, that one." Ares looks out the window nonchalantly, probably checking to make sure no one had stolen his bike. Like anyone would dare.

"Where is it Lord Ares?" I dared to ask, determined to get this conversation over with as soon as possible.

"Oh," Ares began. "Just at the top of the Griffith Observatory," Ares commented, waving off the question like the location was nothing.

"What's it doing up there?" Sammy wondered out loud. Ares just forced a smile and gave him a death glare that clearly said, "That's not your business, leave it alone." I bang my head on the seat back, and sigh(I seem to be doing that a lot lately). This was not how I wanted my quest to start out.

"We'll get right on it Lord Ares," I sigh, maintaining an air of calm.

"You'll have it in no time," Maria reassures Ares. Sammy sighs, but agrees.

"Now that that's settled," Ares says brightly. "Good luck!" He mumbles something about us needing it, then goes outside to get his motorcycle. When he finally leaves, I look at my friends.

"Looks like we're making a detour to Griffith Observatory," I grumble. "Of course Ares picks a place on the _complete opposite side_ of the country." We put a tab on the table, and left. This was most definitely NOT the way I'd imagined my quest going.


	9. Sammy Needs Attention

**Izzy's POV:**

As we left the café, our luck just _had_ to get worse. It started to rain. UGH! I sighed, and started pulling Sammy and Maria to the nearest shelter. Which happened to be a bus stop.

"Hey, hey, hey, slow down there sister!" Sammy said laughing slightly. "What's your hurry, it's just a little bit of rain!" He smiled teasingly at me, but continued to let me drag him.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'd rather not be soaked when we try to climb the Griffith Observatory," I retort.

"It's not like we'll really be able to do anything now," Maria says. "The rain is going to make it impossible to climb." I sigh, knowing she was right.

"So now what?" Sammy asks. Maria and I smile at each other.

"MOTEL AND ICE CREAM!" we scream together. Sammy looks at us weird, as we sprint off to find the nearest hotel.

"SLOW DOWN!" he screams at us. We reluctantly slow to a stop to wait for him. He comes up to us, breathing heavily.

"What was that!?" he asked, again looking at us like we were maniacs. _Well, at times it sure seems like we're crazy._ I snicker at the thought.

"Izzy and I had a bet," Maria starts. "If we ever went on a quest and we needed to find a motel, whoever got there first would have to buy the other ice cream."

"Oookaaay," Sam says, still kind of confused. "How about you two stay with me, and then I'll buy all of us ice cream when we get there." Maria and I smile, agreeing.

"Deal!" we say in unison. We stay with Sammy and walk normally. Suddenly, we hear a weird ringing noise. We watched smaller kids run out of their houses, their parents trailing behind.

"Ice cream!" one of the kids scream. I look at Sammy, smiling wickedly.

"You're paying!" I scram, running up behind one of the kids to get in line. Sammy and Maria join me, and Sam pulls out $20 dollars.

"This is all I'm spending on ice cream today girls," he says. "We still need enough for the motel."

"Ugh, fine!" I complain. We finally got to the front of the line, but the ice cream man was a little weird. His skin had an unusual yellow tint, and his sandy brown hair had strands of what seemed like pure gold braided through it.

"What would you like, kids?" the ice cream man asks. His voice was rough and scratchy, like he had gravel down his throat.

"Uhm, I'll take a Snickers Ice cream," Maria chirped.

"I'll have that too," I add.

"I'll have a ice cream sandwich," Sammy finished. The dude left, and I turned to my friends.

"Ok, does anyone else think he looks a little too weird to be mortal?"

"Yeah," Sammy agrees. "His skin's all yellow."

"And did you see his eyes?" Maria asked.

"No, what was wrong with them?" I questioned.

"They were a weird blue, and the pupils were slit."

"Monster?" Sammy asked.

"Possibly a demon," Maria says, nodding. I grimace. Not what I was hoping for. _Can't I have just ONE day to relax, and NOT have to deal with monsters!?_ Apparently not.

"All right group," I start, "get your weapons ready." I pull out Riptide, ready to uncap it at a moment's notice. Sammy takes his backpack off to get his tool belt. Maria only had to tap her wrist.

The man/possibly monster comes back out with our ice cream. "That will be $15 dollars ple-" he cuts off, obviously sensing the mood change. "Is something wrong?" he asks.

"You tell me," I say simply, flicking the cap off of Riptide. If he was mortal, the Mist would have changed the weapon into something else. Instead, he sniffs and narrows his eyes at us.

"Demiangels," he hisses. Yep, definitely a monster. I see Sam pull something out of his belt out of the corner of my eye, but keep most of my attention on the monster in front of us.

He leaps out of the window, and we yell at everyone to back up. Thankfully, the kids scattered, going back home. _Good, now no one else will get hurt,_ I think. We back up as well, and Maria taps her shield and sword charm. The sword pops out first, and the shield comes out with a _shriiink_ sound. I bend my knees, waiting for the attack starts. Sammy doesn't have as much sense. He jumps towards the monster, which had turned out to be a manticore. ' _Stupid!'_ I think.

"GAAAAHHH!" Sammy yells. I mentally face palm at his lack of judgment, then join the battle alongside Maria. I slash at the manticore's back and face, and he stumbles enough for Maria to get a good hit. Sammy bends down to dodge one of the manticore's thorns. _Forgot he could shoot those. Crap._ I twirl Riptide and slash at his tail, but I miss. The manticore wraps said tail around Sammy's ankle, and picks him up.

"SAMMY!" I scream. My cries go unnoticed, as the manticore continues to lift him higher. Unable to do anything, I watch as he throws Sam at a wall. Sam slumps down, unconscious and slumped over. From where I am standing, I can barely see a trickle of blood run down his face. I scream his name again, then growl at the manticore. He at least had the decency to look scared. I run up to him, slash his arms, and cut his tail off before he can do anymore damage with it. I hold my sword up to his neck. "Who sent you?" I growl menacingly.

I feel him gulp and press harder. "WHO!" I scream.

"N-Nyx," he stutters. "She wants to end all demigods, Shadowhunters, and demiangels." He smirks at the surprised look on my face, then stops once I press hard enough to cut skin.

"Why?" I ask, glaring.

"Sh-she feels like she's been ignored for too long. She wants the world to pay attention to her instead of the gods." I roll my eyes, then remove my sword from his neck. He looks relieved, until Maria finishes the job by stabbing him in the chest. As he continues to disintegrate, I run over to Sammy. His head is split in the back, and I rush to sit him up properly so we can treat him. Maria rushes over to help, and holds him steady as I look for the bottle of nectar in my backpack.

I find it quickly, and pour a little over his head. His wound immediately starts to heal, and I feel relieved. "He's going to be ok," Maria says. I nod, and start to pack up our stuff.

"Let's go find that motel." Maria and I are able to carry/drag him to the motel without injuring anything else, which was a blessing in and of itself. The person behind the desk gave us a few weird looks, but allowed us to check into a room. We bring him to our room, and lay him on one of the beds. He looked so peaceful like that, and if it weren't for the blood, he would have looked like he was sleeping. We turn him over, only to find out that his back had been slashed as well. His t-shirt was ruined, and there was blood running down his back.

"We're going to have to take off his shirt," Maria says, sounding a little embarrassed. I roll my eyes, I mean, it's only Repair Boy. I hold up his shoulders carefully as she peels off the ruined tee. _Man, this boy has ABS! Stop it Izzy,_ I scold myself. _You are only to heal him, not swoon over him._ I sigh, and grab the nectar again. I pour a little over his back, and he tenses, then relaxes almost immediately. We leave him laying on his chest until the cut heals over. Thankfully this one isn't as deep as the one on his head, so it closes up quickly, and we flip him back over. There would probably be scarring, but scars are part of the kid description.

I tell Maria that I'll take first watch, and to get some sleep. She reluctantly agrees, and goes to bed. The night passes uneventfully, and my eyes eventually start to droop. Soon enough, I fall asleep and the night passes dreamlessly.

AN: What'd you think? Hopefully you liked it, and comments are always appreciated.

Luv you all!

Owl


	10. The Beautiful Moments

**Izzy's POV:**

I wake up first, of course. Maria had somehow flopped off of her bed, and Sammy had completely turned the other way, so that his feet were at the pillow. Weirdoes. I roll my eyes, then get up to check on Sammy. A lock of hair had fallen into his face as he slept, and it was starting to bother me. _No Izzy, leave it alone. You're not to touch Sammy's hair. But it's annoying!_ I argue with myself. _No, I need to leave it alone! Oh my gods, why am I even having this conversation with myself!_

I eventually just got up to move it so I would stop arguing with myself. I kneeled down beside the bed, and gently brushed the lock out of his face. I smile, and of course he just HAS to wake up.

"Hey," he whispers, smiling.

"Hey," I reply. "How are you feeling? That was one nasty hit yesterday." He laughed once, a sound deep and full of sarcasm.

"Just _amazing_ ," he snorted, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "How would you feel if you're back had been sliced open, and you were thrown against a wall?" I grimaced, knowing he was right. "And why is my shirt off?"

"Oh," I muter. I blush slightly, but continue. "We had to take it off to get to the cut underneath."

"Oh," Sam repeats. I roll my eyes.

"Did you seriously not think of that?" I teased. He blushed a little, giving me all the answer I needed. I roll my eyes again. "You can be such a Seaweed Brain at times, you know that Repair Boy?" He blushes a little more, but doesn't say anything to defend himself. "Well, I'd better take a look at your head. Can you sit up?" I ask. He nods, and slowly rises. I can see him trying not to grimace, and I frown slightly.

He turns around, and gives me a full view of his extremely muscled back. Well, at least his back has healed nicely. I tell him so, and he agrees. I bring my hands up to his hair to part it so I can see the injury on his head. It still looks bad, but a lot better than before. I get up to grab nectar, and he follows me with his eyes.

"So what did you do after I passed out?" Sammy asks.

I continue to gather supplies, but reply, "Well, we killed the manticore, then carried you to the motel."

"Oh," he says simply.

"You didn't really think we'd _leave you_ there?" I ask, turning around. He blushes a little, and rubs the back of his neck.

"Well, I'd hope not," he jokes slightly. I sigh teasingly, and go back to the bed. I kneel again and tell him to turn around. He does, and I part his hair to pour the nectar over the head wound. He flinches a little, but straightens his back just as quickly.

"Sorry," I apologize.

"It's ok." I finish pouring the nectar on his head, and he lays back down.

"I'm going to wake up Maria. She seems to have somehow rolled onto the floor during the night." Sammy chuckles, and just nods. I move over to Maria, and think about scaring her awake. But then I remembered what had happened the last time someone had done that. They got punched in the nose. I did NOT want a bloody nose this morning, thank you very MUCH! I gently shake her awake, calling her name softly. She refuses to get up. I sigh, knowing what I would have to do.

I go to the bathroom and fill one of the complementary cups with ice cold water. Walking back over to Maria, I start to count down. "5, 4, 3, 2, 1" I dump the water on her head, and she shoots up.

"BY THE ANGEL IZZY!" she screams. "Now I'm all wet!"

"Well, if you had gotten up sooner, she wouldn't have had to do that," Sammy says in my defense.

"Thank you Sam. And I did TRY to wake you, but you refused to get up." Maria grumbles something about betrayal of friendship, and I just smile innocently at her. Maria and I take turns in the bathroom to change, and decide to go get breakfast. Sammy starts to get up too, but I stop him. "No Repair Boy, you need your rest. I don't want you to get a concussion when we're only two days into our quest." He sighs, but agrees and lays back down.

"At least bring me something good," he says.

"I will," I reply smiling. Maria and I head out the door. As we walk down the stairs, she smiles at me.

"So," she starts. "You and Sammy? Are you a thing yet?" I slap her arm lightly, but blush.

"NO! We're just friends."

"Doesn't seem like it," she mutters. I roll my eyes, and continue walking.

AN: How'd you like it? A little short, but oh well. Anyway, I love you all! 3

Luv,

Owl


	11. We Get This Show on the Road

Izzy's POV:  
We bring our breakfasts back to our room, and I am carrying an extra plate for Sammy. Maria's plate is piled with waffles, that of course are doused in syrup and butter. I have waffles as well, but at least I didn't drown them in syrup. I put chocolate chips on mine however, and there are plenty of those. For Sam, I had grabbed an omelet and topped it with bacon, cheese, and chives. Maria opens the door to find Sammy sitting upright. His face lights up seeing the food.  
"What'd you get me?" he asks. I laugh at his face before entering the room fully.  
"Patience Repair Boy," I say. "It's coming!" I smile warmly at him, and place his omelet in front of him. "Bacon, cheese and chives, just how you like it."  
"You remembered!" he gasped. I rolled my eyes at him.  
"Of course I did goofus. You are my best friend after all." It's Maria's turn to roll her eyes.  
"Are you two going to eat, or just stand there talking?" she asks as she sits on the couch. I blush the teeniest bit, and sit on the bed next to Sammy. He smiles at me, and I melt a little inside.  
"I see you didn't stray from the norm Maria," Sammy replies. "Still trying to drown your pancakes?" Now it's Maria's turn to blush.  
"I'm not drowning them! I just think they need more sugar, that's all."  
"So you drown them in butter and syrup," Sammy retorts. Maria blushes even more. I just roll my eyes.  
"Leave Maria and her weird need to drown her waffles alone Sam," I interrupted. "Let's eat breakfast, then head to the Observatory." The temperature in the room seemed to drop about ten degrees with my statement. We ate the rest of our breakfast in silence, then packed up our stuff. I had to help Sammy, so he wouldn't break anything.  
"Let's take it as easy as possible today," Maria suggests. I nod my head, agreeing.  
"Ok," Sammy agrees reluctantly. My face takes on a look of surprise. I didn't expect him to agree that quickly.  
"Well that was quick," I mutter. Maria turns her head towards me, giving me a look that clearly said, _Seriously? He's actually going to agree?_ I shrug.  
"Are you sure you're ok Sammy?" I ask.  
"Yeah, fine. Why?"  
"Uh, well… it's just… whenever someone suggests that you take it easy, you usually insist that you can take it."  
"Oh," he replies. Sam rubs his neck. "Well, I figured that you guys would just argue with me until I agreed, and I knew that would take up too much time. So I just agreed right away." I raise an eyebrow at that comment, but just go with it.  
"Okay," I drawl. "Where are we portalling to first?" Sammy pulls out the map he had grabbed from his belt, and unfolded it. "I can make about 150 mile jumps, so… around the south west corner of Pennsylvania."  
Sammy points out a city near that area. "West Mifflin sound okay?" I nod shortly, and Maria pipes up.  
"Alright, I found a hotel we can crash for the night." Maria flipped her phone around to show us a Google Map of a Holiday Inn Express. I hold up a thumbs up and stand up.  
"Well, let's get going then." We exit the hotel room, and go to the counter to check out. The lady at the desk smiles at us as we walk up.  
"Leaving so soon?" she asks.  
"Yep!" Maria says perkily. "We just needed one night."  
"Alright dears. You stay safe now. Don't go getting yourselves in trouble," she calls at our retreating backs.  
"We'll try," Sammy calls over his shoulder. As we exit the hotel, he puts his arms around Maria and I's shoulders. "Let's get this show on the road, ladies," he declared. We laugh, and I shake my head. _Typical Repair Boy_ , I think to myself. We find a secluded alleyway, I pull out my stele, draw a portal, and we are on our way.

We arrive at West Mifflin without any problems, thank the gods, though as soon as the portal closed, my body collapsed.  
"Woah!" Sammy exclaimed, catching me before I hit the ground. He set me down on the ground before turning to Maria. "Maria, grab some ambrosia from her bag." The world goes dark as my eyes flutter shut, but I push Maria's hand away when the ambrosia is put against my lips.  
"'m fine," I protest in a tired mumble. "Jus' a lil' tired."  
"Nuh uh, you are eating this ambrosia," Maria says sternly. I feel the ambrosia square press more firmly against my mouth, and I reluctantly take a bite. I feel the magic seep into my bones, returning some of my strength. But however strong my body was, my mind was still groggy.  
"I'm fine now," I said carefully, pushing myself off of the ground. I got all the way up before my legs began to crumple again. Sammy caught my arm and put it around his shoulders, prompting me to lean my weight into him. The back of his neck is unusually warm, but I'm too focused on my own body heat rising to worry about why.  
"Yeah, you are not doing that again. I don't care how much faster it is," Sammy says, cutting off my protests, "it makes you too tired. What if there was an attack when we arrived anywhere? You'd be way too tired to even lift Riptide properly, let alone fight."  
"But-" I start.  
"He has a point Iz," Maria interrupts. "We don't want you getting hurt. I'll see how far we can get by train." Maria pulls out her phone, her attention switching from me to the device in a matter of seconds. I slip my backpack off of my shoulders and grab a granola bar to snack on.  
"Thanks for catching me Repair Boy," I say, looking up at him through my eyelashes.  
"That's what friends are for, yeah?" Sammy responds, smiling.  
"Yeah," I confirm softly.  
"Here we go," Maria blurts out, making me jump in surprise. "There's a train to Kansas City, Missouri with tickets at 138 dollars per person, then from there a train to Los Angeles for the same price. We all had $250, right?" Sammy and I nod. "Okay, so that's … $750 between all of us… $540 after the hotel, and $414 for one set of tickets… which leaves us with $126 left over… we're gonna have to sneak onto the second train, and the ones back if we take the train back."  
Sammy and I nod in confirmation. We manage to hail a cab to the train station, pay for our tickets, and are on our way.

It takes a little under 3 days to get to Los Angeles, and we almost got caught several times during the second train ride. Maria slept most of the way(no surprise there), and had refused to get off of her seat once we were in Kansas City. But one I threatened her with water again she shot right up.  
It was about five o'clock when we finally reached Los Angeles, and as none of us were tired after sleeping on the train, we hailed a cab and set off to the Griffith Observatory.

AN: I finally finished the rewrite chapters(Yay!) hopefully you guys like them, and if not, oh well I do XD Please let me know what you thought in the comments below, comments make me happy ^-^ the rest of the rewrites will be up tonight as well, so get ready for an updating spree :D Love you all!

Love,  
Owl


	12. The Griffith Observatory

Izzy's POV:  
The car ride to the Observatory was very quiet, all of us having our own thoughts rushing around in our heads. Sammy was leaning on the frigid window, watching the cars drive by. Maria was in a similar position, except she was laying on my shoulder. I push her head up a little, but it just plops right back down on my shoulder. I check her eyes to see that they're closed. Great, she's fallen asleep again. I turn over to Sammy to see that he has a faraway look in his eyes.

"Whatcha thinking about Repair Boy?" I ask. Sammy's head pops up, and he turns to look at me.

"Oh, nothing much," he replies. "Just how much I appreciate you bringing me on this quest, despite how useless I've been so far."

"Sammy!" I scold, hitting him lightly on the arm. "You are not useless! And of course I'd take you on this quest! You're my best friend! I wouldn't dream of going without you." Sam smiles softly, and I smile right back at him.

"Thanks Iz," Sammy replies quietly. He turns back to the window, and I copy Maria. I lay my head gently on his shoulder, halfway expecting him to move it. When he doesn't do anything, I rest the full weight of my head on his shoulder, and the rest of the ride passes in comfortable silence.

After about thirty minutes, we finally pull up to the Griffith Observatory. I shake Maria awake, and thankfully she is sleeping lighter than on the train. She gets up almost immediately, and we exit the car. Sam pays the cab driver quickly, and we walk up to the doors.

"Whoa..." we all say in unison.

"This place is..." Maria starts.

"Absolutely amazing," I continue. We stare at the building's awe inspiring pale golden domes, and it's almost as though the building demands your attention. I understand now why Ares would come here. It fits his personality well. Sammy opens the door slowly, and holds it open for Maria and I. I smile in thanks, and enter. The scene inside is just as amazing as the outside. The ceilings were covered with paintings of divine beings, and the walls were an off white that was trimmed with a pale gold, the same shade as the outside of the domes. We stand stunned for a minute before I shake myself out of it. "Let's go you two. I'd like to just get this over with." Sammy and Maria snap out of their awe and follow behind me as I lead them to one of the balconies. We jog up the steps, avoiding people as we went, and finally reached the highest balcony.

"Okay," I start. "How are we getting to the roof?" Maria's face scrunches up in concentration. A ladder flickers to life on the far end of the balcony.

"By climbing," she answers.

"That works," I comment, laughing a little.

"Alright, you guys ready?" Sam asks.

"Ready as I'll ever be Lewis," I respond.

"Oh, to last name basis are we Herondale?" Sammy says jokingly. I move out of the way as he lunges to poke me.

"NOPE! BACK PUNY REPAIR BOY! BACK!" I scream, slapping at his hands. Maria tries very hard not to laugh as Sam chases me. She fails, and the sounds of her amusement ring through the air. We sprint around the balcony for a few minutes before collapsing on the floor in exhaustion. Maria hasn't moved from her spot by the railing, and watches as Sammy and I slowly calm down enough to stand up straight.

The three of us climb the ladder slowly, and eventually get to the top with little to no mishaps, most of which were Sam slipping and almost putting his foot in my face. Thank you SO MUCH for that experience Sammy. I've always wanted to know what the bottom of your shoe tasted like. When I told him so, he stuck his tongue out at me. I laughed and shook my head at him. Maria watches us with an amused expression.

"When you two are done," she starts, "we need to find that sword." That snaps us out of our playful mood, and we get to work. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot a glint on the roof. I move closer cautiously, trying to see if it was the sword. I get close enough to see a long, thin object stuck in the roof.

"Hey guys, come over here. I think I see it." Sammy whips his head around and walks closer. Maria joins the group a few seconds later. We walk slowly over to the object, and find it buried in between two of the tiles that make up the roof. I look closer to see that I was right, it was the sword.

"Now why did Ares say we would need luck?" Sammy asks, reaching for the sword.

"Sammy wait!" I say. "It might be-" Too late. Sam grabs the sword, and the dome starts to rumble. "— a trap," I finish. Sam looks sheepishly at me.

"Let's go!" Maria screams. "We don't know what's happening, and we don't want to be on the roof if it collapses!" I nod, and the three of us travel as fast as we dare towards the ladder. Sammy is still holding the sword carefully as we climb down the ladder. Maria pauses briefly to revert the dome to its original state, and the ladder disappears. We sprint through the doors, and dodge people on their way to the balcony. Rushing down the stairs, Sammy is careful not to stab himself or Maria and I.

We finally are out of the Observatory when I make the mistake of looking back. I shriek, and Sammy looks back too. His eyes widen, and he turns back around. We were being followed by a bloody boar. More specifically, one of Ares' boars.

" _Mierda_!" he says, reverting to Spanish. "Don't think about it!" Sammy screams. "Just keep running!"

"Don't think about what?" Maria asks. Then she looks back too. She screams, and turns back around. "The only way we're going to escape this thing is to find a place to hide! We don't have a chance at fighting it!" she screams over the wind. I nod as we run.

Sammy points at a run down building. "There!" he exclaims. Our group veers off to the left in the direction of the building. Sam dashes to the door, banging it open. Maria and I follow closely behind, and we slam the door behind us. I look around for something to board the door up with, but end up not needing to. Thundering hoof steps race past the building, and we sigh in relief. We wait a few minutes before opening the door slowly, and heading back the way we came.  
But a huff from behind us stops us in our tracks. The three of us slowly pivot in place simultaneously.

"Oh come on," Sammy mutters.

"Looks like we don't have a choice," Maria stated grimly. The boar's matted fur was a dark maroon, tufts of it sticking up in odd places. It's snout was covered in short, thick whiskers, and two twin tusks poked through the corners of it's mouth. The boar huffed again, lowered it's head, and charged. Straight at Sammy.

Sammy's eyes widened, and he lunged out of the way. The boar stormed past and skidded to a stop.

"You need a name," I mused, uncapping Riptide. "What about… Ivan? No, too simple."

"Not the time Belle!" Sammy yelled. The boar charged at him again, it's head bent low and the tusks pointing straight at Sammy. Sam dodged again, and swung the sword up to meet the boar's tusks. They clashed with a clang. Sammy stepped back, Ares' sword shaking from the force of the blow.

"Why is it only going after Sammy?" I wondered.

"I was just thinking the same thing," Maria replied. "Hmm, let's try something. Sammy! Throw me the sword!"

"Little busy Maria!" Sammy yelled, dodging another attack.

"Just trust me!"

Sammy shook his head, threw the sword over the boar's head, and sprinted away. The boar's eyes followed the sword as it flew through the air. As soon as it landed in Maria's hand, the boar bent it's head down and charged.

"It only goes after the person with the sword!" Maria shouted. She swung the sword at the boar's head, managing to cut open its cheek. It snorted, then without warning reared its head to the left. The boar's tusk tore it's way up Maria's arm, leaving a deep gash. Maria gasped and dropped the sword, clutching her arm.

"Maria!" Sammy and I screamed in unison. Then as one, we attack. Hammers from Sammy's belt fly at the boar's flank, impaling themselves in its tough hide. My vision was stained red as I crouched low, preparing to jump. As soon as the boar was close enough, I pushed hard off the ground, flying through the air and landing on its back. I wrapped my arms around its bulky neck before it could buck me off, Riptide nicking it's right ear.

"I know what I can call you," I grunted, struggling to stay on the boar. "Impaler. Because of what you did to my friend," I growl. "And also what I'm about to do to you!" True to the name, I impale Riptide deep into the thick folds of its neck.

Impaler screeches and falls over, forcing me to jump off. He huffs one last time, then his body crumbles to dust, only a single tusk remaining. I picked it up, my chest rising and falling rapidly. Turning around, I saw Sammy kneeling next to Maria, who was sitting on the ground, clutching her arm. Sam had Ares' sword next to him, discarded in his haste to check up on Maria.

"How bad is it?" Sammy looked up and grimaced.

"Even with an iratze there will still be a pretty nasty scar," he replied. I walked over, pulling my stele out as I went. Maia gently turned her arm over so I could draw an iratze on her upper shoulder. The rune glowed red for a second, before fading slowly as the magic healed Maria's wound.

As we make our way back to the Observatory to hail a cab again, I crack my knuckles. "We need to have a little chat with your Great-grandfather Maria," I sneer.

"I agree," she responds, glancing at her new scar. Sammy hefts the sword over his shoulder.

"Let's go," he says, forcing the calm in his voice.

AN: How did you like it? Please let me know, and comments make me really happy :D love you all!

Love,  
Owl


	13. Ares Gets His Precious Sword Back

Izzy's POV:  
We didn't have to travel far before we ran into the war god. Ares had his bike propped up near an alleyway, which the god himself was leaning on. He pushed himself off of the wall, and sauntered over to greet us.

"You get my sword punks?" He asked in a gruff voice. I saw Sammy glare at him, and I put my hand on his arm to calm him down. It seemed to work slightly, and Sam held out the sword for Ares. "Good." The god smiled smugly, and grabbed the sword roughly from Sam's hands.

"So, Lord Ares," I start. He looks down at me.

"What?" he asks rudely.

"What information did you have for us about the Necklace of Hope?" Maria finishes for me. Ares rolls his eyes.

"Oh, that."

"Yeah, that," Sammy comments, beginning to get annoyed. Ares glares at him.

"Watch your mouth punk. Most gods aren't as forgiving as I am for rudeness." I send Sammy a pointed look, and he calms down. Maria rolls her eyes.

"The information please, Lord Ares," she interrupts before things get out of hand.

"Right. Well, you guys were on the right track. The Necklace is in LA, but it's not somewhere that is easily accessed. It was put in a place that forced people to face their worst fears. That way, only someone with clear, good intentions could get to it. That's the Necklace's way of protecting itself."

"Wait," I interrupt, "you mean that the Necklace has a mind of it's own?" The other two look just as confused as I am.

Ares nods. "Yep, got a problem with that?"

"No sir," I respond quickly. "Is there anything else we need to know about the Necklace before we get it?"

"Only one other thing. It's guarded by my sons." My eyes widen and Maria gasps.

"Phobos and Deimos? The gods of Fear and Terror are guarding the Necklace?" Ares' smug smirk is the only answer I need.

"Who else would you expect? No one else would be able to show you your worst fears in the blink of an eye. Well, maybe one of those demon princes."

"Actually, there's lots of oth-" I put my hand over Sammy's mouth to keep him from saying anything else. We all know that plenty of monsters could show us our deepest fears, both Greek/Roman and from the Shadow world. That doesn't mean that Sam needs to go blurting it out in front of the war god. Sammy glares at me, and I glare right back. A look that said, ' _Do you want to die today?'_ He rolls his eyes, but pushes my hand away from his mouth.

Satisfied that he won't say anything else that would anger Ares further, I sigh.

"Somethin' you wanna say punk?" Ares growls. I watch Sammy closely as he takes a deep breath before replying.

"No sir," Sammy says through clenched teeth, his mouth pulled up in a tight smile.

"That's what I thought." Ares gets back on his bike and kicks the kick stand up. Before he roars off, he sends another glare at Sam. "Have fun facing your fears!" Ares screams behind him. Sam rolls his eyes defiantly, but he pales slightly. However, he's back to normal once he faces Maria and I again.

"Alright you two, looks like we're sleeping outside tonight." I nod. We don't want to stay in one place for too long, because the longer we stay, the longer monsters have a chance of finding us. We head towards a clearing in the distance, a rare occurrence in LA. As we walk, I glance over at my friends. Beat up and bloodied as we were, I was so grateful that they were willing to come on this quest with me. We arrive at the clearing, and set up our sleeping bags. I'm in the middle, and Sammy and Maria are on either side of me. I don't fall asleep right away, but instead sit up and watch the sun set. Sammy scoots closer, and puts his arm around my shoulders pulling me into a side hug.

"How you holding up Belle?" he asks.

"If you mean with leading the quest, then I don't feel like I'm doing a horrible job," I reply, leaning my head against his shoulder. "How's that head of yours?"

"Not horrible," he says, copying me jokingly. "Just a headache every once in a while." I smile.

"Well that's good." I adjust my head so that I can look up at him while we talk.

"Yeah," he agreed, looking down at me. He smiled warmly at me, and I couldn't help but smile back. We turn back to the sunset at the same time, and sit in comfortable silence as the night falls.

I was standing in a room that was vaguely familiar, but from where I couldn't remember. But with a glance around, my memory returned. My great grandmother Sally was on the lone bed in the room, her eyes closed peacefully.

"Grandma?" I said softly. Either I had spoke louder than I had thought, or Grandma Sally was sleeping lightly, because just as I spoke, her eyes opened and she sat up. Grandma's eyes were wide with panic.

"Why are you here?" Grandma Sally asks. "You shouldn't have been able to get through the wards." I look at my grandmother in confusion and open my mouth to ask what she means, but a voice behind me interrupts my question.

"You put up wards for _Greek_ monsters, not demons." I turn around and was met with the sight of a bright cerulean blue demon about a foot taller than me. Near the top of its head, curling horns sprouted from the thick leathery skin. Its eyes glowed blood red, and it was smirking.

"Why are you here?" my grandma repeats.

"I was sent here to teach your great granddaughter a lesson. Isabelle Herondale is interfering with Nyx's plans too much. Her little quest to the Necklace of Hope won't save anyone, but Nyx sent me anyway." Grandma Sally's eyes widened further.

"Izzy's on a quest?"

"Yes yes, we've established that." The demon rolled its glowing eyes. "But it's not her you should be scared for. Right now, you should be scared for you."

Grandma scoffed. "Oh please. I've lived out my life, I'm not afraid of death. So if you're here to kill me, just do it." Then she gasped like she realized something. "Izzy, if you're here, I can't see you, but please don't watch. It won't do you any good. Just turn awa—" the demon cuts her off with a snarl.

"Shut up mortal," it said with a sneer. Then it lunged. I screamed, but no sound came out. I screwed my eyes shut and turned away, not being able to watch. I hear a smacking sound as the demon begins talking again.

"Well that was wonderful, wasn't it Isabelle?" My body stuffing, and I turn around slowly. The demon's lips are stained red with blood, prompting a strangled cry from my own lips.

"Why would you do this?" I ask, my voice shaking with emotion. The demon shook its head at me, looking almost disappointed.

"Didn't you hear any of what I said? Nyx wanted to give you a warning, and this is it." It spreads its hands as if presenting the room to me. "Family is your weak point Isabelle. Nyx used it against you."

"I will find you and I will kill you," I growl. The demon smirks.

"I look forward to it." The it leaves the room. I finally stumble over to Grandma Sally's bed and collapse beside it.

"Grandma…" I whimper. There is a bloody hole in her chest, the skin around it jagged and torn. Sobs bubbled up from my throat as the dream goes black. I wake up with a gasp, almost banging into Sammy's head as I shoot up.

"Woah! Iz, what happened?" Sammy asks worriedly. I shake my head, still not wanting to talk about what I saw, and tackle him in a hug. "Hey hey, what's wrong?" he asks as he puts his arms around me, squeezing me tightly. My body shakes with my cries, and Sammy's hand runs through my hair in an attempt to calm me. "Talk to me Iz. What happened."

"Grandma Sally," I choked out. "She's… She's dead…" Sammy gasps and squeezes me even tighter, if that's even possible. I nuzzle into his neck, the smell of his cologne calming me. But there was something else in the air as well. "Is that...bacon?" I pull away and turn my face towards the smell, smiling when I saw that Sammy had made breakfast.

"Yep!" Sam said brightly, getting up to grab my portion. "And potatoes and cheese. Figured I might as well do something while I waited for you two to get up." I smile at him gratefully, though still sadly, as he hands me my breakfast. We eat in a comfortable silence while we wait for Maria to wake up.

"Ugh, morning," a voice moans behind us.

"Good morning Maria," I say without turning around.

"G'Morning Iz," Maria responds.

"What am I?" Sammy asks, turning around. "Chopped liver?"

"Yes," Maria retorts in false seriousness. He gasps, pretending to be offended, and Maria and I just laugh. Sammy rolls his eyes but laughs with us. Suddenly, Maria breathes in deeply. "Is that bacon?"

"Yep!" Sammy says again. Maria's face breaks into a wide smile, and she rushes over to the food. I start laughing again and Maria looks back just long enough to stick her tongue out at me. I roll my eyes and look over at Sammy.

"Sammy..." I start in a whiny voice.

"Yes Iz?"

"Maria's being mean," I continue in a baby voice. Sammy laughs silently but look over at Maria, playing along.

"Maria, be nice." She turns back around and rolls her eyes. "Do you want a hug Belle?" Sammy asks, opening his arms. I nod, the playful pout still on my face, and walk over to him. Sammy crosses his legs and I plop down next to him, wrapping my arms around him for the second time that morning. I lean my head into his shoulder, and he puts his chin on the top of my head.

"Awwwwwww!" I feel Sammy's head turn look up at Maria. I look up soon after to see Maria clapping her hands and jumping up and down like a 6 year old, and I raise an eyebrow at her.

"What the Hades Maria. Why are you freaking out so much?"

"You two looked so cute!" she squeals. I scoff.

"Seriously Maria? He was just giving me a hug because you were being mean."

"Exactly!" Maria squeals again. That is really starting to hurt my ears. I roll my eyes and shake my head at her. I turn back around, and rest my head back on Sam's chest. I sigh, and Sammy looks over at Maria.

"Maria's right, you two do look cute," a voice says from behind me. Sammy pushes me up slightly so he can turn around, and I help by sitting up myself.

"Mom?" I ask, scrunching up my eyebrows. My mood turns sour, memories of my dream rushing back to me.

"Hey girlie," mom says, smiling. Her eyes are red and bloodshot, the pain behind them clear as day.

"Is– is this about Grandma Sally?" I stand up and walk closer to the message. Maria and Sammy follow me, and Sam wraps his arms around my shoulders, clasping his hands together over my stomach. Mom's eyes widen, and she nods slowly.

"I'm not even going to ask how you know. It just happened a few hours ago. It would have been while you guys were sleeping," Zoe continues. Tears prickle my eyes as my body trembles for the second time that morning. Sammy tightens his hug, and I place a hand over his arm to show my thanks. I register that my mom continues speaking, but my head is crowded with flashbacks from my dream.

 _..."Well that was wonderful, wasn't it Izzy?"..._

 _...Grandma Sally's body lying limp on the bed, a hole ripped through her chest..._

 _...The demon's mouth covered in fresh blood..._

"I-I gotta go. I'll see you guys later," I said suddenly, pulling myself from Sammy's arms. I ran off before anyone could say anything. Sammy reached after me in an attempt to pull me back, but I kept running.

Sammy's POV:

"I'll go get her," I say quickly.

"Wait." Maria stops me. "Give her a little time to grieve on her own before you go comfort her." I nod reluctantly, and face back to Zoe. Tears are streaming down her face, and she was making no attempt to hide them or wipe them away.

"I'm sorry," Zoe choked out, "I didn't want her to run. I just wanted to tell her what had happened. Now you'll have to go find her and-" I cut her off.

"It's ok Zoe. It wasn't your fault. She's just upset because she watched Sally die in a dream." Zoe covered her mouth with her hands.

"Oh Izzy," she mumbled. I looked over at Maria.

"Now can I go find her?" I asked. Maria nodded her head in agreement, and I sprinted off. "Bye Mrs. Herondale!" I yelled behind me. I faintly heard her call back, but I couldn't quite make out what she said. I was too far away.

I finally find Izzy on a bench by the street. She's curled in a ball, her head in her knees. I walk up to her slowly, and sit down next to her.

"Hey Belle," I say softly. She looks up, and her face is tear stained and her eyes red from crying. A pang shoots through my chest. I hate seeing her like this. I pull her into yet another hug, and Izzy hides her face in my shoulder. We sit like that while she cries, and I glare at anyone who stares at us as they walk by.

After a few minutes, she sits up and sniffs. "Sorry about that. Now you're t-shirt is going to be all wet and gross."

"Aw, don't worry about it." I reply, brushing a lock of hair from her eyes. "It's nothing a little wash couldn't fix." Izzy laughs a little, and I smile. "Success! I got you to smile!" I exclaim, pumping my fists in the air. Izzy snorts and rolls her eyes.

"You are weird Repair Boy."

"I know Belle. It's not like you haven't told me a couple hundred times. Oh wait, you have," I joke. Izzy shakes her head and looks down.

"Again, sorry about your shirt," she mumbles. I move my hand over to her face and gently lift up her chin, forcing her to look me in the eyes.

"Hey, it's ok to cry. There's nothing wrong with it. You're only human Belle." I smiled warmly at her and wiped a remaining tear from her cheek. My hand lingers there, and I glance down at her lips. Her eyes widen slightly for a moment, before her face begins to gravitate towards mine. I watch as Izzy's eyes flutter closed, and I gently pull her face closer. Our noses bump, and I tilt my head slightly—

"HONK!" The Los Angeles traffic interrupts us. We jump back, faces ablaze, and Izzy looks down.

"Well," I start awkwardly, standing up, "we should probably get going."

"Yeah..." Izzy admitted slowly. I hold out my arm, and she stood up, linking our arms together. There was an awkward silence on our way back to the campsite, neither of us quite knowing what to say. Inside my head was a completely different story. My thoughts were running nonstop, replaying the almost kiss over and over again in my head.

AN: How was _that_ for heartbreaking? Even if I made you cry(I cried myself tbh) I hope you liked the chapter :) Comments make me happy, and I love you all!

Love,  
Owl 3


	14. I Try To Ignore The Awkwardness

Izzy's POV:  
As we walked back to the campsite, I started to realize just how far I'd gone.

"Geez, I didn't realize how far you'd run Iz!" Sammy said, reflecting my thoughts and finally breaking the silence. "I was so focused on finding you that I didn't even notice the distance." I laughed nervously at his comment.

"Oops, sorry," I apologize, grimacing slightly.

"You're fine Belle," Sammy said jokingly, nudging my side. I roll my eyes.

"Whatever Repair Boy," I scoff. (AN: Brownie points if you can figure out why Sam calls her Belle. Leave answers in the comments bellow ) The weird air still hung between us, but I figured if I ignored it it would go away.

It didn't work. We finally arrive back at the campsite, after taking a few wrong turns. (*cough* Thanks Sam *cough*) I've barely managed to control my urge to smack him upside the head.

We find Maria sitting on her rolled up sleeping bag, with Sam and I's stuff already packed up and ready to move. As soon as she saw us, she bolted up.

"Where have you been!" she screams. "I've been sitting here for at least 30 minutes! Why didn't you-" Maria cuts off when she notices the carefully kept distance between us, even though our arm are locked. "What happened to you two?"

"What do you mean Maria?" I ask stiffly, pulling my arm from Sam's.

"I mean, you come back with your arms locked, but you both look awkward about it." I can feel Sammy's gaze on the back of my head, but I ignore it in favor of gathering up my stuff.

I lug my bag over my shoulder, and the other two grab their things as well. As soon as everything is ready to go, we group back together, Maria between Sam and I. I glance at him briefly and my cheeks flush, but look away just as quick.

"See," Maria starts. "That's what I mean. You two won't even look at each other properly." I open my mouth to defend myself, but Maria continues before I can say anything. "Whatever. We'll talk about this later. Anyone know how we're going to find the necklace?" Sammy sighs.

"Truthfully, I don't really know," he admits. "I was hoping you guys would have an idea."

"Well, while you guys were off doing who knows what, I was actually planning," Maria says. The three of us start walking towards the exit of the park we had camped in for the night.

"What! Maria planning? No!" I scoff jokingly, trying to get rid of the remaining awkwardness in the air.

"Oh whatever," Maria replies. "Anyway, I was thinking about some of the scariest places in LA. For example, the Vogue Theater or the Culver Studios."

"Those would make sense," Sammy replies.

"Yeah, although the Culver Studios makes more sense. I don't think Phobos and Deimos would be hanging out around a whole bunch of people. Plus, isn't the Vogue a club now?" I add.

"Yeah," Maria says. "Alright, lets go." The three of us start heading to a gas station so we could look for a map.

AN: Pretty short, but I still hope you liked it :) Comments make me happy and I love you all!

Love,  
Owl


	15. Culver Studios

Izzy's POV:  
We arrive at the studios about an hour before sundown. The building has high, pure white pillars in front of the door, and is surrounded by perfectly cut bushes. It was also surrounded by hoards of tourists. That could pose a problem.

"Well now what?" Sammy asks. I shrug.

"We'll just join a tour group and see if we can find where the Necklace is hidden," I suggest. "Then Maria can bend the Mist so we can leave without being noticed."

"Sounds like a plan," Maria says.

"Let's go crew," I say, smiling. I get an urge to skip down the road to the Culver Studios, but I hold myself back.  
As if reading my mind, Sammy mumbles under his breath, "We're off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz." And with that comment, the lingering tension between us disappears.

"YES!" I scream. "High five!" Sammy rolls his eyes, but obliges. Maria laughs at my craziness, and I smile widely at her. The kind of smile that says, "I know I'm crazy and I embrace it."

The joking mood goes sour as we arrive at the doors to the Culver Studios. The three of us pause for a second before Sammy reaches forward and pulls open the door. A cool rush of air greets us, a welcome relief from the humidity of outside, and we enter.

Thanks to our amazing sneaking abilities, we end up not needing to pay for a tour, and just join the one right about to leave. As we walk around, I drown out the tour guide's voice and retreat to my thoughts. I mostly just mindlessly stared at the artifacts and rooms, not really caring about any of it. The tour goes on like this for about 30 minutes, before Maria suddenly stops.

"Maria, what-"

"There," she interrupts. Her hand moves up almost unconsciously, pointing towards an open doorway, one the tour guide didn't cover. "I can feel their energies."

"Awesome," I say sarcastically. I feel a handland on my shoulder, and look up to see Sam smiling encouragingly.

"We can do this," he reassures me. I force a small smile, and he squeezes my shoulder quickly before letting go.

"You guys ready?" Maria asks gently. I nod quickly.

"Yep. Let's get this over with."

The corridor is pitch black, the only light coming from the doorway. But even that didn't last long. Once we were all through, the door banged shut behind us.

"Well that's not ominous at all..." Sammy trails off.

"Let's go guys," I say quietly, finding the other two's hands and pulling them along the path. We walk blindly for about 5 minutes, feeling our way along the walls. No light means no adjusting to the darkness, so I still can't see anything by the time Sam stops, making Maria and I bump into him. My nose hits the back of his shoulder, and I jump. "Ouch," I complain, rubbing my nose.

"Sorry," Sam apologizes.

"Why'd you stop?" Maria asks.

"Because the path stopped," Sammy answered simply.

"What?! No, no no no no no! It can't have stopped! I can still feel them!" Maria panics. I move forward and reach past Sammy. My hand stops on a smooth surface, effectively cutting off our path.

"It's there Maria," I say quietly. Maria then pushes past me to see for herself.

"NO!" she screams suddenly, thudding indicating that she was pounding her fists against the wall.

"Maria," I say softly, "calm down, it's okay."

"No, it's not okay! I led us down this path that turned into a dead end, and now we don't have a way to get out of this wretched hallway because the stupid door shut behind us." I heard Maria slide down the wall, her bottom hitting the floor with a thump. "I'm so sorry guys."

I move to sit down next to her, and place my arms around her carefully. "Hey, it's not your fault."

"Yes it is I-"

"Just listen, okay?" I interrupt. I feel her nod. "You brought us here because you thought it was the right thing to do, correct?" Maria nods again. "Then it's okay. Look at all of the mistakes I've made. Look at the ones SAMMY'S made! I mean seriously, the list is at least a mile long." Maria laughs a little bit.

"Hey!" Sammy protests.

"Oh shut up you, there's no use denying it." His silence is all the answer I need. I turn back to Maria. "And if all of Sammy's mistakes aren't enough proof that it's okay, look at our parents. AND our grandparents. There's plenty more mistakes to choose from."

"For example," Sammy interjects, "your grandmother Hazel almost got your grandfather and my grandfather Leo killed by making a mistake like the one you made today. And they made it out just fine." Maria snorted.

"If you guys can think of a way to get us out of here that doesn't involve dying or exploding something, I'm all for it. But right now, I don't see any way that can happen," Maria admits sadly. I open my mouth to answer her, before a smooth voice interrupts me.

" _So, you three demigods want the Necklace of Hope?_ " the voice asks.

" _You'll have to face us first. Only then will you be deemed worthy enough to get it,_ " a second voice adds.

"The twins," Maria whispers. I grab onto her hand, and stand up, pulling her with me. As soon as we're on our feet, the wall we were leaning against vanishes, and my eyes scream out in protest from the sudden harsh lighting. Wind rushes through the new opening, whipping my hair back and forth.

"What's going on?!" I scream over the wind.

"I don't know!" Sammy screams back.

"I think this is what Ares was talking about. They're going to show us our fears!" Maria says.

" _Correct little demiangel,_ " the first twin says. " _Get ready to face your worst nightmares_."

AN: ... I was really tempted to just leave the updates there and make you wait longer, but I won't XD. I hope you all like the chapter. Comments make me happy and I love you all!

Love,  
Owl


	16. Our Fears

Izzy's POV:

I open my eyes to my mother's garden. It seemed to be spring, as the flowers were in full bloom, there was a comforting breeze, and all was well. I feel someone push of of my shoulders and I turn around. Maria is coming back down from the air, her face covered in an ear splitting grin.

"Hey Maria," I greet her, laughing slightly at the way she announced her presence. The other girl smiles widely at me, before pulling me into an actual hug.

"Hi," she answers. I hug my friend back tightly, a sinking feeling in my stomach. ' _Why do I feel so afraid?_ ' I ask myself. As Maria lets go of the hug, she studies my eyes. Apparently seeing the worry in them, she frowns. "What's wro-" she cuts off with a strangled gasp. Maria looks down, and I follow her gaze, gasping for myself.

"NO!" I scream. A silvery dagger is poking through her chest, right where her heart should be. Maria touches the blood seeping from her wound lightly, like she can't quite believe it's there, and she slumps. I catch her by the arms, dropping to my knees slowly so as not to jostle her any more than needed. "Maria!" I sob, laying her upper body over my lap. Blood is spilling over on to my pants, but I'm too distracted to care. She smiles weakly up at me, but I can barely see through the tears streaming down my face.

"It's okay," she whispers, her breathing labored. I shake my head, and Maria reaches up a shaky, bloodstained hand to wipe tears from my cheek, leaving a bloody trail in their place. I can see my tears soaking her shirt along with her blood, but I can't bring myself to wipe them away, not when Maria was dying.

Suddenly, I hear footsteps coming towards us. I look up, my face stricken. It was Sammy. Maria's labored breathing catches my attention again, and I let out a sob as the girl took her final breaths. Sammy's face was furious, and before I could say anything, he began yelling at me.

"How could you let this happen! It's all your fault! Everything's always your fault! Maria's death, our failure of a quest, the world ending, it's your fault!" I sobbed harder, wanting to defend myself from Sammy, but not being able to through the tears. I lay Maria's body down on the ground and curl into a ball, a megar attempt at cutting myself off from the world.

' _Besides_ ,' a little voice in my head started, ' _he's right. This is all your fault. You should have protected her. You should have gotten the demigods and Shadowhunters to work together, but you failed, and now everyone is paying the price. Face it Izzy, it's your fault._ '

"NO!" I screamed out loud. This was all so wrong. Something kept nagging me, there was too much wrong with this scene. Suddenly, my memories come rushing back. The quest, Maira finding the doorway, the Necklace of Hope. ' _This isn't real_.' I finally realized. ' _We're facing Phobos and Deimos. This is my biggest fear. Losing my friends._ ' As soon as I rationalized my thoughts, the world went black, and then abruptly brightened again, leaving me blinking from the sudden light. As soon as my eyes adjusted, I surveyed my surroundings. The blood was gone from my hands and my pants, and I was back in the tunnel, but there was a new addition. Where the wall had been earlier, there was now a doorway. A harsh, red light shone through, bright enough that I had to squint to see anything. I looked back down at the floor, and was startled to see Sammy lying a few feet away from me.

"Sam?" I whispered. My head shot up again, remembering the rest of my vision. "Maria?" I asked, louder this time.

"Here," a weak voice said from behind me. I spun sharply to see Maria sitting up, holding her head in her hands. I rushed towards her, and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Oh Maria," I sob, "I thought you were dead!" Maria squeezes me back just as tight, and I bury my head into her shoulder.

"I'm okay Iz," she whispers, her voice hoarse. "Just a little shaken up is all." I sigh in relief, then get up to go check on Sammy. I kneel down beside him.

"Sammy," I whisper, shaking his shoulder gently. "Sam, it's just a nightmare. It's not real. It's okay," I continue. I know he won't wake up until he admits his fears, but I'll be damned if I wasn't going to try. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up at Maria gently shaking her head.

"You know that that's not going to work," she said sadly. I sighed in defeat.

"I know." I stopped shaking him, and instead wrung my hands together in worry. Trying(and failing) to take my mind off of Sammy, I looked back towards the doorway. The red light still shone through it, and now that I'd calmed down somewhat from my vision, I could sense the gods' auras. Just like I always get ridiculously angry around Ares, the twins were sending waves of fear and panic through me. Which really wasn't helping me to stay calm and wait for Sammy to wake up. I'm distracted again by a groan from below me, and my eyes quickly snap to Sammy. I moved back a little as he slowly sat up, rubbing his head.

"What in Hades was that?" he mumbles.

"Oh, Sam, you're okay!" I exclaim, tackling him in a bear hug.

"Woah!" he says, pulling away. "Slow down there mi-" his eyes lock onto mine and he freezes.

"Sam?" I ask, letting go completely. "Are you okay?"

"It's you," he says hoarsely. Suddenly, he scrambles away from me, a horrified look in his eye. "You did this."

"What?" I ask. "What did I do?"

"You killed her!" Sammy's voice turned harsh and unforgiving as he glared at me. "You killed my best friend! Izzy's dead because of you! And now you look like her!" I gasped, my hands flying to my mouth. 'He thinks he's still in the nightmare,' I realized.

"Sammy," I said gently. "It's me, Izzy. You're okay now. You're not in the nightmare." As I talk, I move slowly towards him, holding out my hands to show I meant no harm. But Sam was having none of it.

"Stay away!" He screams, backing away some more. "You're not real. None of this is real!" Hurt flashes through my eyes, but only for a second as I pull myself together. I sigh and stop moving towards him.

"Fine. I won't come any closer. But you need to wake up Sam. This is reality. I'm still alive." Sammy shakes his head.

"No, you're lying. Izzy's dead. I watched you kill her!" Right now, all I wanted to do was go and comfort him, but he was having none of it. So instead, I tried shocking him out of this delusion.

"Samuel Martin Lewis!" I said harshly. "Get your freaking head out of your fourth point of contact and wake up! I am not dead. Phobos and Deimos were preying on your fears, but you're fine now, and you need to WAKE UP!" Sammy blinked at the sudden scolding, and realization dawned on his eyes.

"Belle?" he whispered softly. I sighed in relief and collapsed onto the ground next to him.

"Yeah Repair Boy, it's me," I breathed out. I grunted in surprise as Sammy pulled me into a tight hug. His arms wrapped around my waist, I sighed again and hugged him back.

"I thought I'd lost you," Sammy choked out. I dug my head in his shoulder and fought back a sob.

"I know Sammy. I know. But I'd never leave you. Ever."

Sammy nudged his nose against my hair, and replied, "I wouldn't let you get away from me that easily." I let out a strangled laugh, but our moment was interrupted by a cough from behind.

"Okay, this is really cute and all, but we do still have a Necklace to find. Or did you forget?" I cursed under my breath.

"You're right Mari," I said, untangling myself from Sammy's arms, "let's go." I held out a hand to help Sammy up, and he obliged, grasping it firmly. When he was back to his feet, I looked up at Maria.

"Mari?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "That one's new."

I rolled my eyes and shrugged. "Just roll with it." Maria shakes her head and sighed.

"Let's just get this over with." I nodded. Moving towards the doorway, I pulled Sammy with me, as we were still holding hands. He didn't object, instead moving faster to catch up. My cheeks flushed pink yet again, and I allowed myself a small smile as we all entered the doorway together.

" _Well well well_ ," a voice said from above us. " _The demiangels did make it through after all. You owe me 10 drachmas brother_." I looked up to see two figures clad in ancient Greek armor. The one on the left was in deep, blood-like red, while the second was in armor as dark as the Underworld itself. The one in black rolled his eyes.

" _Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll pay up later. Though I'm surprised the boy made it. He almost failed. For now we need to take care of the demiangels_."

" _Agreed, Deimos_ ," the one in red replied. ' _Well, now I know who is who,_ ' I said in my head. My train of thought was interrupted by Phobos conjuring a fireball in his left hand.

"Well, that's not good," Sammy muttered. I threw my free arm out to the side, careful not to hit anything.

"Thank YOU Captain Obvious!" I said sarcastically.

"Shut up you t- DUCK!" Maria yelled from behind. Sammy and I shot to the ground, barely missing a fireball, which I strongly suspected used to be in Phobos' hand. I got up slowly, my hand now free from Sammy's, and glared at the two gods.

"Oh, you wanna play dirty? I'll show you dirty." I brought out Riptide and uncapped it rapidly, lunging forward. But Sam's arms wrapped tightly around my waist prevented me from moving any further.

"Calm down Iz, don't let your anger control you." I sigh, reluctantly stop pushing against his arms, and he lets go. I hear Maria approach, and turn around to face her.

"Alright," she says, "I'll go left, Iz you go right, and Sam, you distract slash go from the front?" Sam and I nod in agreement. "Ok, let's do this thing."

AN: Soooo? How was it? I hope you liked it :D Comments make me happy and I love you all!

Love,  
Owl


	17. What Is It With The Gods And Their Tests

Izzy's POV:  
The three of us moved together towards the two gods, not quite running, but not walking either. I uncapped Riptide as we go closer, twirling it in a figure eight motion. I studied the twins, watching their faces for any signs of a reaction. My frustration levels spike when they just look bored.

"What, are you to good to talk to us?" Sammy asks daringly, vainly attempting to get a reaction out of at least one of them. Deimos smirks, and turns to look at him for the first time since we arrived.

" _Oh, you want us to talk? Fine, we'll talk. Or, I will._ " His smirk widens as he focuses on Maria. My chest clenches with worry for the girl, but all I can do is watch. " _Poor, poor Maria_ ," Deimos continues. " _Never quite feeling like you were enough. For your friends. For your family. Always the second choice._ " Deimos clicks his tongue, as if feeling sympathetic. " _And you were right. You'll never be good enough."_

"No!" Maria protests, covering her ears. "My family loves me! So do my friends!"

" _But do they really?_ " Deimos asks.

"Yes! They do!" I scream. "Don't listen to him Mari! You'll never be second best! You're beautiful, and amazing, and so, so talented. And if someone can't see that, then they don't matter." I see Sammy turn his head upwards in the corner of my eye, but keep my gaze focused on Maria.

"Shouldn't you be doing something too?" I hear Sammy ask. "I mean, not that I'm complaining or anything. I'd be perfectly happy with you just staying there. But, aren't you guys usually a package deal?"

I hear a sigh, and risk a glance upward. Phobos looks strangely dejected, and his voice is resigned as he answers. " _Oh, I'd help if I could. But my brother and I made a deal a while back. We switch off on who gets to torment the people looking for the necklace._ " I resist the urge to roll my eyes(which was very difficult by the way) and I turn my attention back to Maria.

I must have missed something important, because Maria is now on the ground in the fetal position, rocking back and forth as she sobs silently. I step forward to help, when a rush of air knocks me on my butt.

" _She must do this by herself._ " Phobos explains from behind me. " _Otherwise none of you will even be able to_ touch _the Necklace._ " I sigh and nod, but stay on the ground to watch. ' _Come on Mari. You can do this. Fight the darkness._ ' After a moment Sammy sits down beside me.

"She'll be alright," he tries to reassure me. But the worry is evident in his voice. I sigh and lean onto his shoulder, a tear escaping my eye.

"I just wish there was something we could do," I say, my voice cracking. I want to take my eyes off of the struggling girl in front of us, but I can't seem to be able to.

"I know Belle, I know," Sammy responds, rubbing my back in soothing circles. My worry grows the longer we wait, but finally I look back up as I hear a grunt. Maria is still on the ground, but her expression has changed. Instead of scared, now she looks determined.

"Ugh," Maria moans, "get out of my head!" She bursts upwards, actually coming off of the ground before landing gracefully in a fighting position. I watch as she pulls her sword charm off her bracelet, rubbing the remaining tears from her eyes with the palm of her free hand before facing the god. Deimos watches her smugly, which seems to only succeed in enraging Maria further. "Just you wait," she all but growls. "When I get my hands on you I'll-"

" _You'll what?_ " Deimos asks cockily. " _Injure me? Kill me like your brother tried to do?_ " I breathe in sharply, and Maria glances towards Sam and I for a moment, guilt flashing in her eyes, before turning back to the god.

"If I have to," she answers, her voice reflecting the confidence stored in her, ready to burst out at the first sign of danger. "The only thing I want is the necklace. No one has to get hurt." Deimos cackles.

" _Foolish demi-angel_ ," he says after he's finished his laughing spree. " _You forget that you, and your friends have already been hurt. Emotionally. No physical wounds yet, though that can be arranged. Though you needn't worry about having to repeat your brother's mistakes. You've passed the test. You, and only you, can pass through this doorway to get the Necklace. However, this warning I must give you. If anyone else touches the Necklace besides you, they will be burned by the Necklace without question. Now, pass through the doorway and claim the Necklace of Hope._ "

I watch as Maria edges around the god, her sword still in her hands. The last thing I see of her is her hair flowing behind her before she slips through the doorway.

Maria returns a few minutes later, bringing her sword to her bracelet to turn it back into a charm before slipping the Necklace over her head. Maria tucks it into her shirt and turns towards us, a smug smile on her face.

"Well, I got the Necklace," she states simply, spreading her arms wide. I let out a strangled laugh before rushing towards her open arms. Tackling her in a tight hug, I wait a few seconds before I'm able to compose myself to form coherent words.

"We were so worried!" I almost hiss at her.

Maris sighs deeply before replying, "I know Iz. But I'm okay. See?" With that, Maria pulls back enough to let me look her over for injuries.

"Okay okay. I just didn't want you to get hurt."

"What am I? Chopped liver?" I look behind me to see Sammy standing with his arms crossed, a small, teasing pout forming on his lips. I roll my eyes and turn back around to see Maria doing the same.

"Oh, stop complaining and get your but over here Gearhead," Maria says. Sammy happily complies, and pulls us girls in for a group hug.

"Okay, amazing hug and all, but can we leave now? This place is giving me the creeps," Sam comments after about a minute, his breath warming my shoulder as he talks.

"Yeah, let's go. Iz?" I nod in response to Maria's silent question, and the three of us separate from the hug to make our way back out of the room and into the studio we came from.

AN: Only one more rewrite to go! Then we're on to new chapters, which I'm REALLY excited about :D As always, I hope you liked the chapter, comments make me happy, and I love you all!

Love,  
Owl


	18. Matthew Zhang

Izzy's POV:  
"So how does this thing work anyway?" Sammy asks. Maria shrugs.

"I'm not sure. Deimos said it would come to me when the time is right," Maria responds, imitating the god's voice. I laugh and look around the market. There were around twenty different stalls, all selling different trinkets, some even with food in their carts. After getting the Necklace, everyone was a little hungry, so we followed Sammy's nose to this mini market. We had about fifty dollars left between the three of us, and we were just about ready to sneak onto the trains back to camp, so there wasn't much to worry about with money. The smell of freshly baked bread wafted through the air, along with honey roasted peanuts and buttery popcorn.

In her hands, Maria cradled a small bowl of peanuts and a ginger ale. Sammy held a plate stock full of traditional Mexican enchiladas, while I had a single soft shelled taco and some sopaipilla pastries. Our group found a free spot to sit, and Sammy literally devoured his enchiladas.

"The poor enchiladas," I commented in a sympathetic voice. "You know Repair Boy, you should really be nicer to your food. It could come back to bite you some day." I smirk at him and calmly take a bite of my own food.

"Oh ha ha Belle," Sammy replied dryly. "Hey, you got a little something on your cheek."

"Really? Where?" I ask, reaching up to swipe at it. Sammy's hand stops me.

"Here, let me." With that, Sammy wipes at my cheek with his napkin. My skin tingles where his finger met my cheek.

"Was that really necessary?" I ask, trying to hide my blush.

"What?" Sammy replies. I roll my eyes and turn to Maria, only to burst out laughing. An ear splitting grin is stretched across her face, her eyes bright with laughter.

"You have no idea how adorable that was," Maria cooed. Suddenly, I remembered what Deimos had said about Maria's brother. Something in my face must've changed, as Maria scrunched her eyebrows together. "What's wrong?"

"What did Deimos mean when he said your brother tried to kill him?" I asked softly, afraid to ruin the peaceful mood. Maria's face fell, the smile disappearing completely.

"Oh," she sighed. "Well, I guess you guys deserve to know." She took a deep breath and began. "Okay, so when I was about five, before Mom and Dad brought me to camp, my brother went on a mission. There were stories about some rogue demons seen running around our area or something. Anyway, he and his friend Derek set out to prepared to kill the demons, but instead they found Deimos and a few of his _minions_ ," Maria spat. "Mistaking them for demons, Derek shot at the two minions, killing them instantly. For that, Deimos snapped his neck." Maria took a deep, shuddering breath. "Mathew went into a rage, charging at the god and aiming to kill. I'm not sure what happened after that, but Mathew came home bloodied and torn, barely able to stand. He's fine now, but he wasn't for a while. So yeah..." Maria trailed off. I set my food down and scoot across the bench to give the girl a tight hug. "Thanks," Maria said weakly.

"Anytime," I replied, unwinding my arms from around her waist. Maria wiped a few stray tears from her eyes and smiled a little sadly.

"I'm okay now." Maria gathers up her trash and stands up. "Well. Are you guys ready to go?"

"Are you kidding?" Sammy asks. "I'm more than ready to get back to camp. I'll be able to sleep on an actual bed and let's be honest, I was missing the food too." I laugh and roll my eyes at him.

"Is that seriously all you think about? Food and sleep?" Sammy scoffs. I hear Maria snicker in the background.

"Psshhhh... nooooo..." Sam trails off.

"Then what else do you think about Repair Boy?" Sam's face scrunches up in fake thought. Then his cheeks turn pink.

"What?" I ask.

"Nothing. Let's just get back to camp," Sam says, changing the subject. Sammy's grin is contagious, and soon enough the three of us are hideaways once again on the train back to Camp Harmony.

"Wow, I haven't seen this in a while." Ms. Grey remarks, gazing at the Necklace resting on Maria's shoulders. "Hasn't changed much." The three of us had arrived only that morning, after our two day train ride back from Los Angeles.

"Do you know how it works Ms. Grey?" Maria asks, worry evident in her voice. "Deimos didn't really explain it, a-and I want to be able to use it when we need to." Miss Tessa looks up from the Necklace and pins her attention on Maria, humming thoughtfully.

"Not quite how it works exactly. When I used it, it seemed to have a mind of its own. The Necklace didn't do anything until it was needed, kind of like my clockwork angel. But when I needed it, I felt a... presence I guess you could say, that guided me on what to do. Like a conscience. You'll know what to do when the time comes my dear. Trust me on that."

Maria sighed. "That didn't really help, but okay," she muttered. I hummed sympathetically.

"You'll figure it out Mari. Maybe not now, but when it's needed, you'll know what to do. I know you will."

"Thanks Iz." Maria smiled gratefully at me, before looking back down to study the necklace again. "Where'd your boyfriend go?" Maria asked suddenly.

Ms. Grey perks up. "Boyfriend? When did this happen?" I turn to glare at Maria.

"He's not my boyfriend!" Ms. Grey looked almost disappointed. "He's probably in the dinning hall."

"Speaking of food, why don't you guys head to the dining hall and eat. I imagine you're hungry. We'll talk about the prophecy and what still needs to be done tomorrow." Maria and I smile gratefully at Ms. Tessa, and walk out the door.

Meanwhile in Tartarus:

"Those stupid kids! Why couldn't they have left it well alone and let me get my revenge?! Oh wait. That's right! Because they're _heroes_ and it's their _job_." Nyx scoffed. "Well they're wasting their energy. The Necklace of Hope won't stop me, no matter how much hope it installs in their weak, pitiful minds," the deity spits.

"M-mother?"

"What?!" Nyx spits at Dolos.

"How are we going to defeat the Shadowhunters and the gods? If it was just one group I could see it happening, but both? I don't see how it would work."

"Are you doubting me?" Nyx demands shrilly.

"N-no Mother. Just curious," Dolos amends. Nyx sighs and rolls her eyes.

"You ignorant child." Dolos bristles. "We just need to separate them. Even all of the gods together couldn't defeat me, they need the heroes. And the Shadowhunters will be occupied with other things."

"With what things Mother, if this ignorant child is allowed to ask." The sarcasm in Dolos' voice goes unnoticed by his mother.

"Demons Dolos, demons! I will talk to Asmodeus soon, and gain his loyalty. Then, we will send the demons of his realm at the demiangels. There are so few of them, it will be easy to defeat them. Then I will send you my children to the Shadowhunters. And once they are out of the way, the real play will begin."

AN: And there you have it folks! The last rewrite chapter!(for now anyway XD) I hope you guys like them, as I like them A LOT better than the original. Anyway, comments make me happy, and I hope you all have a nice day!(or night, depending on where you are and when you're reading this) Love you all!

Love,  
Owl


	19. IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!

Hey everyone! Sorry it's been been forever since I updated, but I've been working on the rewrites inbetween school, band, and dance, so it's taken longer than it really should have. But anyway, I've finally gotten all of the chapters fixed, so if you haven't yet, I suggest you go and reread the story so you'e caught up on all of the changes :D Anyway, I hope you all like these new chapters as much as I do. I'm not sure when the next update will be, but hopefully it won't take three months to get out XD Okay, I love you all!

Love,

Owl

ALSO! THE OTHER CHAPTERS IT SHOWS I'VE UPLOADED ARE REWRITES, JUST SO YOU KNOW.


	20. The New York Institute

**Chapter Twenty:**

 **3rd Person POV:**

Izzy woke the next morning to the sun shining through the curtains of her cabin and straight into her eyes. A knock on her door woke her up further, and the teen rolled out of her bed.

"I'm coming! Gods," she said when the knocking continued. Izzy began running her fingers through her hair to straighten it, then opened the door. "Oh, hi Sammy," she greeted.

"Good morning Belle," Sammy said with a smile. "I take it you just woke up?"

"What gave it away?" Isabelle asked sarcastically. Sammy rolled his eyes good naturedly.

"Tessa wants the three of us in her office after breakfast."

"M'kay," Izzy responded, then shut the door in his face.

"What?" he said through the door. "No good morning?" The girl rolled her eyes and sighed, but turned back around to open the door.

"Good morning," she said quickly, before closing the door again.

"Rude," Sammy teased. Isabelle laughed but didn't respond. Izzy busied herself with getting ready for the day, while Sammy leaned against her door to wait. Which probably wasn't the best choice, as Izzy threw the door open when she was done, and Sammy fell onto the floor. Izzy snickered, and Sammy's cheeks flushed pink.

"Shut up," he muttered.

"I didn't say anything," Izzy responded, laughter clear in her voice. Sammy glared playfully at her as he got up from the floor.

"Whatever, let's go eat. I'm huuuunnngrryyy." Izzy rolled her eyes good naturedly.

"Of course you are."

When the three demiangels entered Ms. Grey's office, they found that she was not alone. Magnus Bane was in one of the many chairs scattered around Tessa's office.

"Grandpa!" Maria yelled, running into his open arms. His bright cat eyes were outlined in a glittering blue, and the tips of his hair were dyed a brilliant lilac purple. Magnus' outfit was as extravagant as ever, and bright bangles adorned his wrist. A wedding ring sat upon his left ring finger, shining in the light.

"Hey pumpkin," Magnus replied, hugging his granddaughter tightly.

"Hey Magnus," Izzy greeted, hugging the warlock as well. Magnus smiled at Sammy and ruffled his hair, while Sam ducked away and swatted playfully at his hand.

"Did you ask her out yet?" Magnus whispered in Sammy's ear. The teen's cheeks flushed a deep red, but he shook his head slightly. Magnus rolled his eyes. "Of course not," he teased.

"Good morning you three," Ms. Grey started. "As you can see, Magnus is here. We've been talking, and we have decided you three should go to the New York Institute and try to explain what is going on over here."

"Yes," Magnus joined in. "While Shadowhunters know plenty about how to kill a demon, they know very little about Greek and Roman monsters."

"Also, you will be explaining the prophecy to them. Besides what Clary may have told them, they won't know anything about it." The three teens nod in agreement. "Magnus, will you do the honors?"

"I would be happy to Tessa," Magnus replied, raising his hands into the air. Brilliant blue sparks danced across his thin fingers as Magnus began to make circling motions around the wall. Tessa Grey and her three charges watched transfixed as a portal began to form. As soon as the portal was finished, Magnus motioned for the three demiangels to step through, before finally going through himself. Tessa smiled fondly once more as the portal closed upon itself, memories of earlier times flashing behind her eyes.

Sammy, Izzy, Maria, and Magnus step through the portal only to be greeted with a rather unusual sight. The Shadowhunters of the New York Institute stood back to back in a big circle, weapons drawn. Arai flew around their heads, one occasionally darting down to attack. As soon as the portal closed, the arai's heads all popped up at once, aimed towards the newcomers. The biggest one sniffed deeply and smiled cruelly.

"Demiangels," she hissed. Most of the group stayed above the Shadowhunters, but three of them darted towards Magnus and the demiangels. The warlock shot out his hand, hurriedly whispering under his breath. The arai froze, literally, and dropped to the ground with a thud.

"I leave for one hour to get these three, and the place falls apart," Magnus comments dryly.

"Well hello to you too Mags," Alec replies from across the room. "A little help please?" Magnus' face melts into a soft smile at the sound of his husband's voice, but hardens again as another arai dives towards him. The four newcomers hurried over to the group on the other side of the room. Magnus muttered a few words, and a thin shield formed over them.

The arai kept hammering at their little bubble, each thud sending a shudder through the whole shield. Besides Magnus and the three demiangels, there were only 5 other people inside: Alec Lightwood-Bane, Rose Lightwood-Bane, Clary Herondale, Simon Lewis, and Matthew Lewis.

"Has any of them been killed?" Maria asks suddenly, flinching as another arai hit Magnus' shield.

"Yes," Clary answers. "But it took at least 5 hits. The seraph blades seem to have little to no effect. And it didn't help that they kept flying out of reach either."

"Who killed them?" Sammy asked, alarm clear in his voice.

Matthew, Clary, and Rose raised their hands. Sam turned on his father.

"Was there any… damage?" he asked slowly. Matthew looked at his son in confusion.

"What do you mean Sam?"

"He means," Maria cut in, "that arai inflict curses on whoever kills them. Every single curse sent your way, ends up as an arai. Once you kill that arai, that curse comes true. But it doesn't seem to have done anything to you…" As she trailed off, Maria circled around the three Shadowhunters, her eyes roaming their bodies for injury. Matthew shrugged.

"I don't feel any different." Clary and Rose confirmed the same. A thump on the shield signaled another attack.

"It must only work on people with godly blood," Izzy piped up. Maria nodded in agreement and opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by an ear splitting screech. A single arai was sitting on top of the shield, her claws scratching at it furiously.

"You can't hide in there forever little demiangels. We may not have been able to curse the Shadowhunters, but we can curse yooouuuu! And there are some perfectly nasty curses for you three. Doesn't that sound lovely?" As it spoke, the arai hit its claws on the shield time and time again. With its last words, the claws finally broke through. Magnus' eyes widened in surprise.

"Wh- HOW?! That shield should have lasted for at least another 30 minutes!" Maria didn't look surprised.

"I think it's because the Shadowhunter and Downworlder worlds don't have spells made for anything Greek." Magnus thought about it for a second.

"That could be it."

A second crack appeared in the shield as another arai slammed its claws into it.

"Brace yourselves guys, this isn't going to be pretty," Sammy warned.

And the shield shattered.

AN: Dun dun DUUUNNNN! XD They're at the Institute! Yay! And Malec! Yay! And I left you on a cliffhanger! YAY! XD Anyway, all cliffhangers aside, I hope you guys liked the chapter, and let me know what you think in the comments/reviews down below :D Love you all!

Love,

Owl


	21. Arai Are Stupid

Chapter Twenty One:

 **Maria's POV:**

The battle was long, and with only two demiangels fighting, it took longer than it should have. Why wasn't I fighting? I had to make sure there was someone that knew how to take care of Sam and Izzy if of the runes wouldn't heal the injuries from the curse. And I expected they wouldn't.

So, I watched. Helplessly. I watched silently as Sammy and Iz were cursed again and again, one after the other. First it was Izzy getting cursed with acne, then Sam got cursed with an excessive amount of hangnails. Around and around the cycle went, the Shadowhunters and Magnus doing the best they could to kill the arai before they could get to Sammy and Izzy. At some point, Sammy had gotten hit with a cramping curse (Seriously, who thinks of these things?!) and he doubled over in pain, but rose back up again a few seconds later and continued fighting. I wanted so badly to rush out and help them, but the logic of being able to help them later overpowered my need to help them now. I could do nothing as Izzy finally fell from exhaustion. I could do nothing as Sammy stood over her, and soon fell beside her.

Until finally, _finally_ it was over. My grandfather's magic dispelled the last arai, and I could _finally_ go help. I sprang up from my hiding spot and sprinted over to where Sam and Iz had crumpled to the ground. And even in his delusional state, Sammy was still protecting Izzy. He had fallen with his arm around her waist, and I briefly wondered why they weren't dating yet. But that thought vanished as I saw their injuries.

Sammy's arms and face were covered in cuts, and Izzy was the same. Their shirts had tears and were riddled with holes from the arais' claws. I rummaged around in my backpack until I found the bottle of nectar I had brought with me, along with my steele. I dribbled some of the nectar into their mouths first, and watched as some of the injuries faded, along with Izzy's acne curse. But neither woke up.

I took a deep breath to keep from panicking, and drew an iratze on each of their shoulders. A few more of the wounds healed, but still neither woke up.

"Grandpa!" I called out. Magnus came rushing over.

"What's wrong pumpkin?"

"They won't wake up." I bit my lip worriedly as my grandfather used his magic to see what was wrong with them.

"They've gone into a shock induced coma. But," he continued at my gasp, "they should wake up in a couple of days. Don't worry too much. We'll get them into the infirmary, and then you can help me repair the wards." I nodded in agreement. Magnus called Alec and Matthew over to help carry Sam and Izzy to the infirmary.

I went with them to dribble a tiny bit more nectar into each of their mouths.

"Please wake up guys," I whispered. "I don't know what I'd do without you." I brushed a lock of hair out of Izzy's closed eyes, then I went back out into the entrance hall to help my grandfather.

AN: Hey y'all! Soo...that happened... please dont kill me XD So yeah, besides the fact that Sam and Iz are now in a coma, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Also! We got Maria's POV :D YAY! XD (I know its kind of short, but the stuff in the next chapter needed its own chapter) So yeah, comments make me happy and I love you all!

Love,  
Owl


	22. Sammy Is Too Stubborn For His Own Good

Chapter Twenty Two: Sammy Is Too Stubborn For His Own Good

 **Maria's POV:**

Three days later, Sammy and Isabelle still hadn't woken up. Grandpa Magnus kept reassuring me that this was normal, and that they would wake up, but I couldn't help but worry.

The Inquisitor paid a visit to ask what had happened, and why the institute's alarms had gone off, so Jace and I explained. Jace talked about how the arai had gotten in and what had happened during the attack, while I explained what arai were, and the prophecy about Sam, Iz, and I.

The Inquisitor seemed skeptical about the prophecy, but she looked at me with disdain barely hidden behind her eyes and told me we needed to fix it. As soon as she left, I rolled my eyes and went to check on Sammy and Isabelle.

"You would think they'd be a little kinder to the person who holds their future in her hands," I mumbled to myself.

"Unfortunately, that's not how they think about things," Matthew Lewis said from behind me.

"I know," I sighed, slowing down long enough for him to catch up, but continuing to head towards the infirmary.

I arrived to the same scene I came to yesterday. Sam and Izzy passed out on their respective beds. I sighed, and moved over to check on Izzy first. I completed my normal routine of dribbling nectar in her mouth and drawing an iratze on her shoulder. But in the middle of her irazte, movement from the other bed caught my eye. Matthew gasped, but I waited to look over until the rune was finished.

Sammy was blinking groggily, and he tried to sit up but I hurriedly turned around and gently pushed his shoulders down to the bed.

"Sam, you just woke up from a coma. Sitting up right away probably isn't the best idea," I said gently. I handed him a piece of ambrosia since he could now chew, and he ate it slowly. Sammy's eyebrows were scrunched as he looked up at me in confusion.

"I was in a coma?" I nodded. "How long?"

"Three days," Matthew answered for me. Sammy's eyes widened to the size of saucers and he looked to me for confirmation. I just nodded again.

"You had us all worried Gear Head. Grandpa Magnus said it shouldn't take long for you to wake up, but everyone was still panicky."

"Where's Isabelle?" I jerked my head backwards, then moved to he could see her clearly. "She's….is she…."

"She's not dead Sam," Matthew said. A sigh of relief. "She's just still in a coma."

When he didn't reply for a while, Matthew continued. "She _will_ wake up Sammy." The brunette just nodded absentmindedly.

"Help me over to her," he said suddenly, throwing the blankets off of his legs.

"Wait, Sam I don't think-"

"Just, help me. Please." I sighed, but walked closer so he could use my arm as support. He took the few steps to Izzy's bed, then kneeled beside it.

"Oh, Belle," Sammy whispered, brushing some of her hair behind her ear. "I'm so sorry."

I spoke up, catching Sammy's attention, "Hey. It's not your fault." He opened his mouth to respond, but his father cut him off.

"Maria's right. None of this is your fault. And don't give me any of that, 'If I'd only protected her better,' crap, because we all know you did your best." Sammy gaped at his father for a few seconds, before he turned back to Izzy.

"Come on Sam, let's go get you something to eat."

"No, I'm not leaving her."

"You haven't eaten for three days Gear Head. You need food."

"I'm _not leaving her_ ," he repeated, turning to glare at me. We had an intense staring contest before I finally threw my hands up in the air in defeat.

"Fine! I'll bring you your food. But you _will_ eat it." I stormed out of the infirmary and made the treck to the kitchen. Unsurprisingly, the room was occupied. "Hey Aunt Izzy, hey Grandpa Alec." The siblings had been huddled together in discussion, but they broke apart when I spoke.

"Maria! What are you doing here this time of day? I would think you wouldn't get hungry for a couple of hours at least," Aunt Izzy teased.

"Ha ha," I responded dryly. "Sam just woke up and refused to leave Isabelle's side for food, so I'm bringing him some."

Izzy's eyes widened in surprise. "He's awake?" I nodded. Izzy spun on her heel and hightailed out of the kitchen. Alec chuckled a little at his sister's antics.

"At least she's finally out of the kitchen," he commented. "I did _not_ want to eat her soup." I let out a laugh.

"Neither did I." I walked over to the fridge and began rummaging through it. Unsurprisingly, there wasn't much else besides take out containers, and...ugh, was that rotting meat? Gross. "By the angel, do you guys eat _anything?"_ My grandfather laughed.

"Why do you think I moved out?" I laughed and shook my head, then grimaced as I removed containers of molding food from the fridge. Grandpa Alec picked up the containers one by one and tossed them in the trash. Giving up on the fridge, I moved to the pantry and finally found something edible.

"Oh, thank the gods." I reached up and pulled a box of dried potatoes out of the cupboard. After checking the back, I grabbed a measuring cup, bowl, milk, and butter. While I prepared the mashed potatoes for Sam, my grandfather grabbed a spoon and bowl and poured Sam a glass of water.

"So," my grandpa started, "how are you holding up?" I hummed absentmindedly in question. "You know, with the whole quest thing."

"I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"I'm fine, Grandpa, I promise," I said again, turning to look at him in the eyes.

He searched my face, then, seeming to find what he was looking for, replied, "Okay, I won't press." I turned back to the mashed potatoes. "But you know you can talk to me and Magnus about anything, right?"

"...I know."

"Good." By then, the mashed potatoes were done and ready to be eaten, so I scooped some into the bowl Grandpa had set out, stuck the spoon into the bowl, then grabbed both the potatoes and the water.

* * *

When I entered the infirmary again, I was unsurprised to see Sammy still kneeling at Izzy's bedside. In fact, he was so focused on Izzy that he didn't notice that I had entered the room until I waved the mashed potatoes underneath his nose. He jerked away, and I almost felt bad for the headache that the sudden movement would cause, but teasing him was just too much fun to really feel sorry about it.

"Eat up Gearhead, you need your strength."

"Did you really have to scare me like that?" Sammy asked, shooting me a brief glare.

"Well if you weren't so focused on Izzy, then you would have heard me walk in," I shot back. "Just ask her out already."

"I can't."

"Why not? It's not like she doesn't like you back."

"I just can't, okay?" Sammy snapped. I recoiled at the sharpness in his voice, but before I could say anything he continued in a softer tone. "Look, I'm sorry for snapping at you, okay? But I've tried to ask her before, but I could never bring myself to say the words. Heck, I almost _kissed_ her, but that just-"

"Wait, hold up," I interrupted. "You two almost _kissed?!_ Why is this the first time I'm hearing about it?"

"Uuuhhmmm…" Sammy trailed off, stuffing a mouthful of mashed potatoes in his mouth so he wouldn't have to speak. "These potatoes are delicious Maria."

"Thanks, but you're not getting out of this conversation. You can't just drop something like that and then not explain! When did it happen, _where_ did it happen?"

There was a long pause before Sammy said anything else. "Ugh, fine! It was while we were looking for the Necklace, okay? I was comforting her after Sally's death and we both just kind of leaned in, but then a car honked and we both jumped, so nothing came out of it."

"So _that's_ why you guys looked so awkward after you came back!" I gasped. Sam nodded. We continued to talk like this, moving from topic to topic comfortably. As Sammy finished the last bites of his potatoes, I managed to convince him to get back into his own bed so he could sleep.

I stayed until Sammy's breathing evened out, and even then I fussed with Izzy's bed a little while longer, indulging in the part of me unwilling to leave. But eventually I had to, so I headed to the training deck to let out some of my frustrations.

Owl note: Hey y'all. So sorry it took so long to update, but my schedule has been hectic and honestly? I've just been in a writing slump for awhile. But hopefully getting this chapter done will help me get back out of it, but we'll have to wait and see. Anyway, I hope you like the chapter, and comments are always appreciated ^-^ Love you all!

Love,

Owl


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